Etymology

chopstick

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Today it means: An East Asian eating utensil typically used as a pair held in one hand to grip food items, mix liquids, or scoop food out of a bowl. The utensil is a stick, usually made of wood, and measuring approximately 23 cm (10 inches) in length. Full definition →

Chinese Pidgin English chop(-chop)
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The story

  1. Chinese Pidgin English · derived fromchop(-chop)“quick”
  2. English todaychopstick

Apparently a compound of chop + stick, but the sense of the first element is not clear. The term was earliest applied to fishing tackle (from 1615), later being transferred to the dining utensil (attested since 1637) driven by their visual resemblance. The commonly held derivation from Chinese Pidgin English chop(-chop) (“quick”), a supposed calque from Chinese 筷子 (kuàizi, “chopstick, literally, ‘little quick ones’”), derived from 快 (kuài, “quick”), is chronologically impossible as Chinese Pidgin English did not come into existence until the 18th century.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.