Etymologically
Log in

lip

Etymology and origin of the English word lip

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1000
Inherited from
Old English lippa
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic (*lepjōn)

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is Middle English lippe, inherited from Old English lippa (“lip”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *lepjōn,[2] source also of Old Frisian lippa, Middle Dutch lippe (Dutch lip), Old High German lefs, Swedish läpp and Danish læbe.[3][2] It is probably related to Latin labium (“lip”) and labrum,[2][5][6] and Barnhart gives PIE *leb-,[2] but Boutkan and de Vaan reject the traditional Indo-European derivation, and it may be a substratum word.[3] French lippe is an Old French borrowing from Germanic.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Either fleshy fold of the mouth: about 1000, in Ælfric's Glossary;[2][7] lippe before 1200.[2]

Semantic evolution

The lips as organs of speech, often figuratively, are from about 1020.[7] To bite one's lip, showing vexation or repressing emotion, is from the early 14th century.[3][7] The edge or margin of a cup or other opening is from the 1590s.[3] Saucy talk, impudence, is from 1821,[3][2] probably from move the lip (1579), to utter the slightest word against someone.[2] Word Origins notes that the stiff upper lip, despite its link with a certain type of Englishman, comes from the United States;[6] Etymonline dates it from 1833.[3] The verb, to kiss, is from 1604, in Shakespeare's Othello.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – lippa.[2]
  • early 14th century – bite one's lip.[3]
  • 1590s – the edge of a cup.[3]
  • 1604 – to kiss (verb).[2]
  • 1821 – impudence.[2]
  • 1833 – stiff upper lip.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Either of the two fleshy folds around the opening of the mouth.
  2. The edge or rim of a container or opening.
  3. (slang) Impudent talk; cheek.

Verb

  1. To touch with the lips; to kiss.
  2. Of water, to lap against.
  3. (golf) To hit the ball so that it touches the edge of the hole without dropping in.

Word family

  • lipless
  • liplike
  • labial
  • labium
  • lipstick
  • lip service

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Lip.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/lip. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·