Etymologically
Log in

nipple

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 13:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈnɪp.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is probably formed from English neb (“beak, bill, snout”) + -le,[2][3][4][5][6][7] literally "a small projection",[4][6] and is an alteration of the earlier form neble, also nible.[5][8][9][10] The OED notes that the change of b to p is unusual, and that there is no clear connection with Old English nypel (“elephant's trunk”).[2] Dictionary.com takes it as perhaps akin to nib.[11] neb is from Old English nebb (“beak, nose; face”), from Proto-Germanic *nabją (“beak, nose”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The small projection of the breast through which milk is given: about 1510, in a text the OED cites as Lyfe Roberte Deuyll.[2] Etymonline dates nyppell to the 1530s and the earlier neble to the 1520s,[4] and Barnhart finds nipple in Elyot's dictionary of 1538 and neble in Palsgrave's of 1530.[5]

Semantic evolution

Earlier words for it were pap and teat.[4] From 1574 the word was used of devices shaped like a nipple that let out a liquid or gas in measured amounts.[2] From 1661 it was used of a cover for the nipple during suckling, later the artificial teat of a feeding bottle;[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date the mouthpiece of a nursing bottle to 1875.[5][4] From the early 18th century it was used of any projection like a nipple, in the body or in machinery.[2][4] The 19th century added the short perforated piece on a muzzle-loading gun on which the percussion cap was fired (1822), small bumps on glass or metal (1839), a rounded top on a hill (1859) and a short pipe threaded at both ends (1863, chiefly American).[2] The verb, to provide with nipples, is recorded from 1882,[2] and in American use from 1989 of a baby sucking.[2] Johnson (1755) derived the word from a Saxon nypele.[12] In Jamaican English a nipple is a small finger-shaped dumpling.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 1510 – the projection of the breast.[2]
  • 1520s – earlier form neble.[4]
  • 1574 – a device that lets out a liquid or gas.[2]
  • 1661 – a cover for the nipple; later an artificial teat.[2]
  • 1713 – a mechanical part that projects like a nipple.[4]
  • 1822 – the nipple of a percussion gun.[2]
  • 1863 – a short threaded section of pipe.[2]
  • 1875 – the mouthpiece of a nursing bottle.[5][4]
  • 1882 – verb, to provide with nipples.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The small projection in the centre of the areola of each breast, through which in females the milk ducts open.[14][9][2]
  2. An artificial teat on a baby's feeding bottle.[2][5]
  3. (US and Canada, informal) A baby's dummy or pacifier.[14]
  4. Something like a nipple in shape or function.[14][2]
  5. A small drilled fitting through which grease is put into a bearing; a grease nipple.[14]
  6. (chiefly US) A short piece of pipe with a screw thread at each end, used for joining.[2]

Verb

  1. (chiefly poetic) To provide with nipples, or to stud as if with nipples.[2][9]

Word family

  • nippled
  • nippleless
  • nipplewort
  • neb
  • nib

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins