pamper

From Middle English pamperen (“to cram with food”), from Middle Dutch *pamperen (“to cram with food”), frequentative of *pampen (“to stuff”), from Proto-Germanic *pamp- (“to swell”), from Proto-Indo-European *bamb- (“round object”), equivalent to pamp +‎ -er.

Cognate with West Flemish pamperen (“to cram with food, overindulge”), Middle Low German pampen (“to stuff oneself”), German dialectal pampfen (“to cram”), Danish dialectal pampe (“to boast, brag”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpæmpə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -æmpə(ɹ)

pamper (third-person singular simple present pampers, present participle pampering, simple past and past participle pampered)

1. (transitive) To treat with excessive care, attention or indulgence.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.

2. (dated) To feed luxuriously.

• (treat with indulgence): coddle

• mapper, pampre, pre-amp, preamp

Derived from the name of the Pampers brand of diapers, perhaps from English pamper.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛmpər/

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• Rhymes: -ɛmpər

pamper m (plural pampers, diminutive pampertje n)

1. a diaper

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