piper

IPA/ˈpaɪpə(r)/
KK[pˈaɪpɚ]IPA/ˈpaɪpər/

piper — noun

  • pipersingular
  • pipersplural

1. a musician whose instrument is either a simple wind pipe (a thin tube blown thro

1.nounC1
Definition

a musician whose instrument is either a simple wind pipe (a thin tube blown through the lips) or, more often in modern use, the bagpipes traditional to Scotland and Ireland.

Example

A lone piper led the wedding party out of the church and across the lawn.

common collocation: a lone piper

Marcus hired three pipers from Glasgow to play at his grandfather's funeral.

plural countable: hire pipers to play

Common collocations
  • a lone piper
  • Scottish piper
  • Irish piper
  • piper plays a lament
  • lead piper
Synonyms
  • bagpiper

    more specific — only refers to a bagpipes player, never to a player of a simple pipe

  • piper player

    non-standard; avoid

  • pipe-blower

    rare and informal; mainly used jokingly

Usage Note

Subject is usually a person introduced by name, role, or number ('a lone piper', 'three pipers'). In modern British and Irish English the bagpipe meaning is far more common than the simple-pipe meaning; the latter mostly survives in folk-music and historical contexts.

Common Mistakes

She plays the piper in the orchestra.
She plays the bagpipes in the orchestra.
'piper' is the player, not the instrument; the instrument is 'pipe' or 'bagpipes'.
He is a piper of the flute.
He is a flute player.' / 'He is a flautist.
'piper' is not used for flute, oboe, or other orchestral wind players.
Idioms

he who pays the piper calls the tune

idiom

a saying meaning that the person who covers the cost of something has the right to decide how it is done.

The investors want a quicker launch, and he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Sarah reminded the team that her father funded the trip, and he who pays the piper calls the tune.

pay the piper

idiom

to suffer the unpleasant results of something you chose to do earlier, especially after enjoying yourself or taking a risk.

Carlos partied all weekend, and on Monday morning he had to pay the piper at the office.

If you keep skipping practice, you will pay the piper on game day.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name someone who plays a musical instrument, but they differ sharply in scope. 'Musician' is the broadest — anyone who performs or composes music, on any instrument. 'Piper' is narrower: in modern British, Irish, and Scottish English it almost always means a bagpipes player, though the older sense of any pipe-player still survives in folk and historical writing. 'Bagpiper' is the most specific and unambiguous, used when the writer wants to rule out the older meaning. 'Flautist' (or American 'flutist') refers only to flute players and is never interchangeable with 'piper'. So at a Highland wedding you would say 'the piper played a lament', at an orchestra concert 'the flautist had a long solo', and in a general programme note 'a talented young musician'.

piper ↗bagpiper ↗flautistmusician ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • a lone piper
  • the lead piper
  • a Scottish piper
  • an Irish piper
  • an army piper

Phrases

Prepositions

  • piper from [place]
  • piper at [event]

Etymology

LatinVulgar LatinOld EnglishEnglish

Old English 'pipere', from 'pipe' (the wind instrument) plus the agent suffix '-ere' meaning 'one who does'. The base word 'pipe' was borrowed very early from Vulgar Latin 'pipa', which in turn came from Latin 'pipare' meaning 'to chirp or peep' — an imitation of the high, thin sound a small bird or simple flute makes. The bagpipes meaning grew up alongside the older sense as that instrument spread across the British Isles.