Etymology

fillip

fil·lip
F4I1L1L1I1P3

Today it means: The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick. Full definition →

Middle English filippen
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromfilippen
  2. English todayfillip

From Middle English filippen, philippe (“to flick or snap a finger from against the thumb”); further origin uncertain, but probably imitative. See flip. It is not clear whether the verb is derived from the noun, or vice versa.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.