gradual diminution of width or thickness in an elongated object.
gradual decrease of force, capacity, etc.
anything having a tapering form, as a spire or obelisk.
a candle, especially a very slender one.
a long wick coated with wax, tallow, or the like, as for use in lighting candles or gas.
Verb Phrases
taper off,
to become gradually more slender toward one end.
to cease by degrees; decrease; diminish: The storm is beginning to taper off now. I haven't stopped smoking entirely, but I'm tapering off to three cigarettes a day.
Origin of taper
1
First recorded before 900; Middle English: “wax candle,” Old English, variant of tapur, dissimilated variant of unattested papur paper
historical usage of taper
English taper has no relatives in other languages. In Old English, tapur, tapor meant “candle, candlewick.” Tapur may possibly be a dissimilated form of Latin papȳrus “papyrus plant, papyrus, paper,” sometimes used as a candlewick. Alternatively, the Old English form could be of Celtic origin, akin to Irish tapar and Welsh tampr “a taper, a torch,” from a Proto-Indo-European root tep- “to be warm,” source of Latin tepidus “lukewarm” (English tepid ). A taper is a candle that narrows at one end. The corresponding verb sense “to narrow gradually toward one end” appeared in the very early 17th century; the related figurative sense “to gradually decrease or diminish” dates from the mid-19th century.