Etymologically
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skip

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 07:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /skɪp/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English skippen, probably from a Scandinavian source:[2][3][4][5] compare Old Norse skopa (“to take a run”) and dialect Swedish skopa, to skip or leap,[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *skupaną.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To leap or spring lightly: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder, in Barnhart;[2] about 1300 in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

To run off or flee is from the mid-14th century, and skip out from the late 14th.[3] To pass over and omit parts, as in reading, is first recorded in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women (about 1386).[2][3] To bounce, as a stone across water, is from the mid-15th century, and to make something skip from the 1680s.[3] The noun, a light leap, is from the early 15th century.[3][6] Skip it! is by 1856,[3] the skipping rope by 1799,[3] and to fail to attend, skip school, from 1810.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – to leap lightly.[2]
  • mid-14th century – to flee.[3]
  • c. 1386 – to omit, in Chaucer.[2]
  • 1799 – skipping rope.[3]
  • 1810 – skip school.[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To move lightly with little hops and jumps.
  2. To jump over a rope swung under the feet.
  3. To leave out or pass over: skip a chapter.
  4. To fail to attend or do: skip lunch.
  5. To bounce a flat stone across water.

Noun

  1. A light jump or hop.

Word family

  • skippable
  • skippingly
  • hit-skip
  • outskip
  • nonskipping
  • skip bombing
  • skip tracer
  • skipper
  • skipping rope
  • skep

Usage notes

A different skip, a large open container for builders' rubbish, is a variant of skep, a basket (early 19th century in this sense).[7][5] Skip is also short for skipper, the captain of a team, from 1830 in curling.[3][4]

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 f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press