kipper

kipper · noun, verb, adjective¹

1. Middle English · inherited fromkippen“to seize, snatch”
2. Old English · inherited fromcoper“reddish-brown metal”
3. Old English · inherited fromcypera“male salmon”
4. English todaykipper

From Old English cypera (“male salmon”), perhaps related to Old English coper (“reddish-brown metal”) (see copper), on resemblance of color. Another theory connects it to kip (“sharp, hooked lower jaw of the male salmon in breeding season”), from Middle English kippen (“to seize, snatch”), but OED doubts this.

kipper · noun²

Short form of UKIP + -er, influenced by kipper, the type of fish.

kipper · adjective³

Perhaps akin to Old Norse kjapt (“briskly; impetuously”), kippa ("to snatch; pull; jerk" > Middle English kippen (“to seize”)), kipra (“to wrinkle; draw tightly”), Norwegian kjapp (“fast; brisk”), Dutch kippen (“to seize; catch; grip”). More at kip.

kipper · noun⁴

Short for "kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings".

Words from the same roots