Etymology

nip

N1I1P3

Today it means: To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon. Full definition →

Middle English nippen ← Middle Low German knîpen ← Old Saxon *knīpan
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nip · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*knīpaną“to pinch”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*knīpan
  3. Old Saxon · derived from*knīpan
  4. Middle Low German · derived fromknîpen
  5. Middle English · inherited fromnippen
  6. English todaynip

From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”). Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.

nip · noun2

  1. Middle Dutch · derived fromnipen
  2. Middle Low German · derived fromnippen
  3. English todaynip

Short for nipperkin, ultimately from Middle Low German nippen or Middle Dutch nipen ("to sip; nip"; > Dutch nippen). Compare also German nippen (“to sip; taste”).

nip · noun, verb3

Clipping of nipple.

nip · noun4

Canada 1931.

nip · noun5

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Nip · noun, adjective6

Clipping of Nipponese, derived from Nippon, from Japanese 日本 (Nippon).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.