Origin of taper

1
before 900; Middle English: wax candle, Old English, variant of tapur, dissimilated variant of *papur paper

historical usage of taper

English taper has no relatives in other languages. In Old English, tapur, tapor meant “candle, candlewick.” Tapur may possibly be a dissimilated form of Latin papȳrus “papyrus plant, papyrus, paper,” sometimes used as a candlewick. Alternatively, the Old English form could be of Celtic origin, akin to Irish tapar and Welsh tampr “a taper, a torch,” from a Proto-Indo-European root tep- “to be warm,” source of Latin tepidus “lukewarm” (English tepid ).
A taper is a candle that narrows at one end. The corresponding verb sense “to narrow gradually toward one end” appeared in the very early 17th century; the related figurative sense “to gradually decrease or diminish” dates from the mid-19th century.

OTHER WORDS FROM taper

ta·per·er, noun ta·per·ing·ly, adverb un·ta·pered, adjective un·ta·per·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH taper

taper tapir

Example sentences from the Web for tapering

British Dictionary definitions for tapering

taper
/ (ˈteɪpə) /

verb

to become or cause to become narrower towards one end the spire tapers to a point
(often foll by off) to become or cause to become smaller or less significant

noun

Derived forms of taper

taperer, noun tapering, adjective taperingly, adverb

Word Origin for taper

Old English tapor, probably from Latin papӯrus papyrus (from its use as a wick)