leaper

Meaning

Noun

• One who leaps.
• A kind of hooked instrument for untwisting old cordage.
• A piece, like the knight, which moves a fixed distance, and ignores pieces in the way.
• Synonym of jumper
• A person whose birthday falls on 29 February, and thus only occurs in leap years.

Origin

• From Middle English lepere, lepare, from Old English hlēapere, equivalent to leap + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Lööper, West Frisian ljepper, West Frisian loper, Dutch loper, German Läufer, Swedish löpare, Icelandic hlaupari.