Etymologically
Log in

cipp

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Old English word cipp

cipp1 chip

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
Ultimate origin
Old English *cippian

Pronunciation

  • /t͡ʃipp/, [t͡ʃip][1]

Forms

ċipp m (strong a-stem; genitive singular ċippes, nominative plural ċippas)[1]

Etymology

The word for the chip is, according to Wiktionary, from Old English *ċippian (“to chop off in pieces”), a verb recorded only in forċippian (“to cut off”), from Proto-West Germanic *kippōn, from Proto-Germanic *kipp- (“to chop, split”).[1] Wiktionary compares Middle Low German kēp (“notch, nick”), Dutch keep (“notch”) and Middle Dutch kippen (“to chip, hatch”).[1] In a gloss, the past participle of the verb with for- renders Latin praecisa.[2][3]

Etymonline and the MED do not separate this word from ċipp2 “beam”: they take the Middle English word for a chip from that noun.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

No Old English text has the sense “chip”: Bosworth and Toller, Sweet and Köbler give ċipp only as a beam, log, ploughshare or weaver's beam.[6][7][8] The sense appears in Middle English chippe “a chip, splinter, shaving of wood”, now English chip.[4][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1390 – Middle English chippes in Chaucer's Miller's Tale.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a small piece of wood, a shaving, a chip.[1]

Descendants

  • Middle English chippe (→ English chip; Scots chip)[1]

cipp2 beam

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Latin cippus
Ultimate origin
Latin cippus
Etymology tree of cipp2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cippus
French cep
Italian ceppo
Portuguese cepo
Romanian cep
Old English ċipp

Pronunciation

  • /t͡ʃipp/, [t͡ʃip][1]

Forms

ċipp m (strong a-stem; genitive singular ċippes, nominative plural ċippas)[1] Also cip, cyp and cypp.[6]

Etymology

The word for the beam is, according to Durkin and Toller, borrowed from Latin cippus (“stake, post”).[9][6] It has relatives across Germanic: Old Saxon kipp (“stick, post”), Old Dutch kip (“fetter”), Old High German kipf (“cart stake, weaver's beam”) and Old Norse keppr (“cudgel”).[10][11][1]

The MED allows that the Latin word may be the source of the whole Germanic group.[4] Köbler, following the EWA, thinks a Latin origin unlikely and sets up a native Proto-Germanic *kippaz (“stick”).[8][11] Orel relates it to *kaipaz.[10] Wiktionary finds the case for borrowing inconclusive and allows that the Germanic and Latin words were taken independently from a third language.[1] De Vaan explains the Latin noun, first a boundary stone, as perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeypos (“pole, stick”).[12]

Semantic evolution

Toller's Supplement gives three senses: a beam, log or stock, the share-beam of a plough, and a weaver's beam.[6] It glosses Latin “stipes” and “dentale”, and þurh cwearterhlice cyp renders “per carceralem stipitem”, the stocks of a prison.[6] The Rule of Benedict uses it for the beam in one's own eye, and the estate text Gerefa lists it among a weaver's tools.[6][13] Durkin counts it among the rare synonyms of the commoner words for a beam.[14] The MED derives Middle English chippe from it, a word that still meant the share-beam of a plough.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a beam, log or stock; the stocks of a prison.[6][7]
  2. the share-beam of a plough; a ploughshare.[15][6]
  3. a weaver's beam.[6][13]
  • forċippian

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 235
  3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. forcippian
  4. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 124
  7. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 56
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. cipp
  9. ^ Durkin, Philip (2014), Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 111
  10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 214
  11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  13. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 34
  14. ^ Durkin, Philip (2014), Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 136
  15. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 155

Related etymologies

  • coc · also from Latin
  • pic · also from Latin
  • butere · also from Latin
  • rose · also from Latin
  • sacc · also from Latin
  • torr · also from Latin
  • port · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Cipp.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ang/cipp. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·