whip English · revision 10533

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1250|origins=dum wippen}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /wɪp/, /hwɪp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Middle English wippen, whippen is not found in Old English;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) it is probably, like Middle Low German wippen, [[bor|dum|wippen|t=to swing, leap]],^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021) from a Germanic base meaning “to move quickly”,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) which Watkins traces to a root meaning “to turn, vacillate, tremble”.^(Etymonline) Related words are Danish vippe, to swing up, and Middle High German wipfen, to jump.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The OED thinks the senses of the noun and verb represent several separate adoptions or formations.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To flap violently, as with wings: before 1250, in The Owl and the Nightingale,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To strike or flog with a whip is from about 1386, in Chaucer,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline, together with to move something with a quick motion.^(Etymonline) Flogging led to the sense to defeat, overcome (1570s),^(Etymonline) and quick movement to the cookery sense, to beat cream or eggs (1670s).^(Etymonline) The noun, an instrument for flogging, is from about 1325,^(OED 1989) partly from the verb and partly from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wippe, quick movement.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) In Parliament a whip, the official who makes sure party members attend and vote, is from 1828; it comes from the hunting whipper-in, who keeps the hounds from straying.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1250 – to flap violently.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1325 – a whip (noun).^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – to flog.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – to defeat.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1670s – to whip cream.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1828 – a parliamentary whip.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A rod or a flexible [[lash]] on a handle, used for driving animals or for [[punishment]].^(AHD)

+ # A blow or stroke made with a whip.^(AHD)

+ # An official of a political party who makes sure members attend and vote.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # A dessert of whipped cream or egg whites.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To strike with repeated strokes, as with a strap or rod; to [[flog]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pull or move with a sudden quick motion: ''to whip out a gun''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To beat cream or eggs into a froth.^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' To defeat thoroughly.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[whipper]]

+ * [[whiplike]]

+ * [[bullwhip]]

+ * [[horsewhip]]

+ * [[whiplash]]

+ * [[whipcord]]

+ * [[whippet]]

+ * [[whippy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[whip snake]]

+ * [[whipper-in]]

+ * [[wipe]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}