Etymology

kelp

K5E1L1P3

Today it means: Any of several large brown algae seaweeds (especially of order Laminariales). Full definition →

Middle English *kelpe ← Old English *cylp ← Proto-West Germanic *kulpi
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kelp · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kulpiz“lump, boll”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kulpi
  3. Old English · inherited from*cylp
  4. Middle English · inherited from*kelpe
  5. English todaykelp

Inherited from Middle English *kelpe, culpe, *kilpe (Early Modern English kilpe), of unclear origin, though the attested forms point to Old English *cylp, possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kulpi, from Proto-Germanic *kulpiz (“lump, boll”, referencing the airsacks of species such as bladderwrack and knotweed), potentially a substrate term connected to Latin globus (“globe”) and Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“clump”). If the above theory is accepted, cognate with Low German Kulp, Külp, Kulpe (“lump in the eye, ball, thick nose”), Norwegian Nynorsk kulp (“short tube”), and Swedish kulp (“stout person”); further compare Bavarian Kolpel (“lump of stone”), Icelandic kúlpa (“to protrude”), Low German kulpen, külpen (“to pile up”), Low German Kulpogen (“large eye”), and West Frisian kolpje (“to pout”).

kelp · noun2

  1. Old Norse · derived fromkilpr“the handle of a vessel, loop”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromkelpe
  3. English todaykelp

From Middle English kelpe, kylpe, from Old Norse kilpr (“the handle of a vessel, loop”). Related to Old Norse kelpa (“otter trap”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.