Etymology Dictionary

CAPER (1),  to dance about.  (Ital.,—L.)   In Shak. Temp. v. 238.  The word was not borrowed from F. cabrer, but merely shortened (in imitation of cabrer) from the older form capreoll, used by Sir P. Sidney in his translation of Ps. 114, quoted by Richardson:  'Hillocks, why capreold ye, as wanton by their dammes We capreoll see the lusty lambs?'—Ital. capriolare, to caper, leap about as goats or kids.—Ital. capriolo, a kid; dimin. of caprio, a roe-buck, wild goat; cf. Ital. capra, a she-goat.—Lat. capra, a she-goat; caper (stem capro-), a he-goat; caprea, a wild she-goat.   Cf. Gk. κάπρος, a boar; Curtius, i. 174.   Der. caper, sb.; capriole, q.v. and cf. cabriolet, cab.

CAPER (2),  the flower-bud of the caper-bush, used for pickling.  (F.,—L.,—Gk.,—Pers.)   There is a quibble on the word in Shak. Tw. Nt. i. 3. 129.—O. F. capre, cappre, a caper, Cot.; mod. F. câpre.—Lat. capparis.—Gk. κάππαρις, the caper-plant; also its fruit, the caper.—Pers. kabar, capers; Richardson's Arab. Dict. p. 1167.