Etymologically
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equip

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French équiper (“to fit out”),[2][3][4][5] from Old French esquiper (“to fit out a ship”),[2][3][4] probably from Old Norse skipa (“to man a ship, fit up, arrange”),[5][2][3][6][7] a verb formed from skip (“ship”), a cognate of ship.[5][8][9] Etymonline notes that the Old Norse verb was also used of warriors manning a hall and of trees laden with fruit.[3] The OED notes that the French verb is not recorded in this sense before the 16th century, but must have existed much earlier, at least in Anglo-Norman, which had Anglo-Norman eskipeson (“equipment”) (14th century), and in Medieval Latin, which had eschipō (“to man a vessel”) in M. Paris (13th century).[5][10] The OED and Hoad think that the Old French esquiper or eschiper, to put out to sea, perhaps has a separate source, though one also from Old Norse or Old Saxon;[5][6] Merriam-Webster compares Old English scipian (“to embark, equip a ship”), from scip (“ship”).[4] Weekley thought some senses perhaps influenced by an association with Latin equus (“horse”).[11] The French verb is also the source of esquipar and esquipar.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To furnish with what is needed for action, such as arms or equipment: 1523, in a letter of T. Wolsey.[5][2][4]

Semantic evolution

Ayto observes that although the word goes back to fitting out a ship, its earliest English uses are already in the broad sense "to supply with what is necessary", and its link with the sea was soon lost.[8] The nautical sense, to fit out a ship, is recorded in English only from 1574.[5] From 1695 the verb also meant to dress up or rig out a person;[5] from 1699 it also meant to supply someone with money for an undertaking, formerly also in slang or jocular use for giving someone a sum of money.[5] Johnson (1755) defined it first as furnishing a horseman for service.[12] The noun equipment is recorded from 1717, and equipage, at first equipment or a train of attendants, from the 16th century.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1523 – to furnish with what is needed for service or action.[5][2][4]
  • 1574 – to fit out a ship.[5]
  • 1695 – to dress up, rig out.[5]
  • 1699 – to supply with money for an undertaking.[5]
  • 1717 – equipment.[2]
  • 1725 – reflexive, to fit oneself out, as for a journey.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To furnish or supply with the tools, materials or apparatus needed for a purpose: The new lab was equipped with modern microscopes.[13][4][5]
  2. To provide with the abilities, knowledge or understanding needed: Her training equipped her to handle emergencies.[13][4]
  3. To dress or attire, especially for a particular activity: hikers equipped for rain.[13][5][12]

Word family

  • equipper
  • reequip

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins