Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Taper

Taper , noun

[Anglo-Saxon tapur, tapor, taper; compare Ir. tapar, Welsh tampr.]

1.
A small wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light.
Get me a taper in my study, Lucius. — Shakespeare
2.
A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness in an elongated object; as, the taper of a spire.

Taper , adjective

[Supposed to be from taper, n., in allusion to its form.]

Regularly narrowed toward the point; becoming small toward one end; conical; pyramidical; as, taper fingers.

Taper , intransitive verb

To become gradually smaller toward one end; as, a sugar loaf tapers toward one end.

Taper , transitive verb

To make or cause to taper.