romper

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɒmpə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɑmpɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɒmpə(ɹ)

From romp + -er.

romper (plural rompers)

1. Someone who romps or frolics.
   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 316:

     For a brief spell in 1974, Polly was singing in blackface as Sarah Leone with a British reggae romper named Tony Jackson.

2. (nautical) A ship that has moved far ahead of a convoy.

   Coordinate term: straggler

Ellipsis of romper suit.

romper (plural rompers)

1. A onesie.
   • 2021 May 4, Ruth La Ferla, “On That Bombshell Billie Eilish Cover for British Vogue”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Prompted to pose on her bed, [Tavi Gevinson] dressed in a skimpy romper, “pouting,” she recalled, “with heavily lined eyes and straightened blonde hair.”

From romper room.

romper (third-person singular simple present rompers, present participle rompering, simple past and past participle rompered)

1. (Ireland, historical, transitive) To abduct (a victim) to a room where they are tortured and murdered; associated with the Ulster Defence Association.
   • 2003, Martin Dillon, The Trigger Men: Assassins and Terror Bosses in the Ireland Conflict:

     James McCartan was about to be ‘rompered’, but not before those present poured themselves drinks.

• romper room

Borrowed from English romper, from English romper suit. In folk etymology, the word is linked with Dutch romp (“torso”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɔm.pər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rom‧per
• Rhymes: -ɔmpər

romper m (plural rompers, diminutive rompertje n)

1. a one-piece garment for an infant or small child; a onesie or romper
2. an adult loungewear jumpsuit with short sleeves; a onesie or romper

For the baby version, the diminutive rompertje is often used.

From Old Galician-Portuguese romper (13^th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin rumpere.

• IPA^(key): [romˈpeɾ]

romper (first-person singular present rompo, first-person singular preterite rompín, past participle rompido, short past participle roto)
romper (first-person singular present rompo, first-person singular preterite rompim or rompi, past participle rompido, reintegrationist norm)

1. (ambitransitive) to break

   Synonyms: britar, crebar, rachar

2. (intransitive, of the day) to dawn

   Synonym: abrir

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “romper”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “romper”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “romper”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “romper”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “romper”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “romper”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “romper”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• rompe

From Latin rumpere.

romper

1. to break

• Ladin conjugation varies from one region to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese romper, from Latin rumpō, rumpere (“to break”).

• Hyphenation: rom‧per

romper (first-person singular present rompo, first-person singular preterite rompi, past participle rompido, short past participle (Brazil only) roto)

1. to break, to tear, to rupture

For quotations using this term, see Citations:romper.

• corromper
• roçar
• roto
• rotura

• “romper”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “romper”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Inherited from Old Spanish romper, from Latin rumpō, rumpere (“to break”).

• IPA^(key): /romˈpeɾ/ [rõmˈpeɾ]

• Audio (Peru):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: rom‧per

romper (first-person singular present rompo, first-person singular preterite rompí, past participle roto)

1. to break

   Synonyms: despedazar, destrozar, destruir, derribar, derrumbar, arruinar, quebrar

   romper el hechizo

   break the spell

   se me ha roto el móvil ― my mobile phone broke

   Rómpase la cabeza con ilusiones ópticas.

   Rack your brain with optical illusions.

2. to break up, terminate (a relationship, friendship etc.)

   Mariana rompió con ella.

   Mariana broke up with her.

   Mariana y Catalina rompieron.

   Mariana and Catalina broke up.

3. (with a) to begin to do something; to break into

   Synonyms: comenzar, empezar

   romper a conducir ― to start driving

4. to rupture

• → Belizean Creole: rompeh raaheh

• “romper”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025