piper

UK/ˈpaɪ.pə/US/ˈpaɪ.pɚ/

nounB2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — pipe sits at #1,559neutral

Other forms: pipers

A piper is somebody who plays a pipe or the bagpipes. A lone piper, the regimental piper, pipers at the head.

A lone piper at a funeral or a memorial is one of the most fixed rituals in Scotland. Paying the piper is a phrase about bearing the cost, from the saying that whoever pays the piper calls the tune.

Definitions of piper

1nounpiperSomebody who plays a pipe or the bagpipes.B2
“A piper in a kilt played as the bride walked into the church.”

piper is a musician.

Where it comes from

Middle English pipere is pipe plus -er, from Old English pipe, a musical tube.

Middle English
piper
English, today
piper

From Middle English piper, pipere; equivalent to pipe + er. fifer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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