Word.ws English Dictionary

harper

/ˈhɑː(ɹ)pə(ɹ)//ˈhɑɹpɚ/

harper noun: a harpist, especially one who plays a traditional harp without pedals.

Noun

harper (plural harpers)

  1. A harpist, especially one who plays a traditional harp without pedals.
    • The Harpe. […]
      A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong
      Mys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX....
    Synonyms:
    harp-player, harpist
  2. (obsolete) An old Irish brass coin bearing the emblem of a harp.
    • the harper that was gathered amongst us to pay the piper1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […]...

Proper noun capitalized: Harper

Harper (plural Harpers)

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a player of the harp.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.
    • Two children who were killed in an attack on a Catholic school in Minneapolis have been identified by their parents as Harper Moyski, a "joyful" big sister, and Fletcher Merkel, who loved "any sport that he was allowed to play".2025 August 29, Max Matza, “A 'joyful' girl and a boy who loved sports - Victims in Minneapolis shooting identified”, in BBC, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2025
  4. An unincorporated community in Ogle County, Illinois.
  5. An unincorporated community in Decatur County, Indiana.
  6. A minor city in Keokuk County, Iowa.
  7. A city in Harper County, Kansas, named after Sgt. Marion Harper.
  8. An unincorporated community in Magoffin County, Kentucky.
  9. An unincorporated community in St. Clair County, Missouri.
  10. An unincorporated community in Logan County, Ohio.
  11. An unincorporated community in Ross County, Ohio.
  12. A census-designated place in Malheur County, Oregon.
Show 6 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A census-designated place in Gillespie County, Texas.
  2. A ghost town in Carbon County and Duchesne County, Utah.
  3. An unincorporated community in Southworth census-designated place, Kitsap County, Washington.
  4. An unincorporated community in Albany County, Wyoming.
  5. A rural community of Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
  6. A town in Maryland County, Liberia, named after Robert Goodloe Harper.

harper meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

harper in Hindi

हार्पर

harper in Tamil

நரப்பிசைக் கருவிவகை வாசிப்பவர்

harper in Marathi

हार्पर

harper in Urdu

ہارپر, حارپر
More languagesFewer languages
harper in Bengali
বীণাবাদক
harper in Telugu
హార్పర్, హర్పర్, హార్పెర్
harper in Malayalam
ഹാർപ്പർ, ഹാർപർ
harper in Kannada
ಹಾರ್ಪರ್, ಹರ್ಪರ್
harper in Punjabi
ਹਾਰਪਰ, ਹੈਰਪਰ
harper in Gujarati
હાર્પર
harper in Odia
ହାର୍ପର୍, ହାର୍ପର, ହର୍ପର୍
harper in Nepali
हार्पर

Synonyms of harper

Forms of harper

Noun
pluralharpers
Proper noun
pluralHarpers

Plural of harper: harpers

Origin of harper

From Middle English harpere, from Old English hearpere (“harpist, harper”), equivalent to harp + -er. Cognate with Middle Low German harpære (“harper”), German Harfer and Harfner (“harper”).

Inherited from Middle English Harpere.

Words formed from harper

Words that rhyme with harper

Questions about harper

What does harper mean?
Harper means a harpist, especially one who plays a traditional harp without pedals.
What is harper in Hindi?
Harper in Hindi is हार्पर. See Harper meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is harper?
Harper can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce harper?
Harper is pronounced /ˈhɑː(ɹ)pə(ɹ)/.
What is the plural of harper?
The plural of harper is harpers.

Words near harper in the dictionary

  1. harpejjis
  2. Harpel
  3. harpellaceous
  4. Harpels
  5. Harpenden
  6. harper
  7. Harper County
  8. Harper Woods
  9. Harperite
  10. Harperites
  11. Harperley

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: harper (page history and authors); Harper (page history and authors); harper (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); harper (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); harper (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); harper (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-harper.wav.

Cite this entry: “harper.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/harper. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.