amper

Meaning

Adv

scarcely, barely

Adj

sour

Concepts

scarcely

hardly

barely

uneath

remotely

harshly

scarce

less

at a premium

only just

Synonyms

nauwelijks

ternauwernood

kwalijk

👎

bijna

krap

spoedig

karig

maar net

Translations

apenas

à peine

kaum

escasamente

difícilmente

apenas

quase não

dificilmente

μόλις

vix

ne … guère

difícilment

a malapena

dūrē

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɑmpər/

Etymology

Cognate with German: sehr

Cognate with Swiss German: rüüdig

Cognate with Swedish: amper

Cognate with German: Ampfer

In summary

Inconclusive. Whilst its current definition was long thought to have come from Indonesian hampir due to its exclusive presence in Dutch (and no other Germanic language), this would not explain its high and almost universal usage in Flemish. More likely would be if it originated on Dutch soil. In that case, the meaning would have changed somewhat from the earlier Middle Dutch amper (“sour”) – compare the semantic development of German sehr (“very”), Alemannic German rüüdig (“very”). This word, in turn, is Germanic, and a cognate to the Swedish amper, German Ampfer.

Sentences

Hij kon amper iets bijdragen aan de bouw van zijn nieuwe woning .

He could hardly contribute anything to the construction of his new home.

Blijkbaar betaal je amper belasting in Monaco .

Apparently, you barely pay taxes in Monaco.