Etymology

puppet

pup·pet
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Today it means: Any small model of a person or animal able to be moved by strings or rods, or in the form of a glove. Full definition →

Middle English popet ← Middle French poupette ← Latin pupa
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompupa“doll, puppet; girl”
  2. Middle French · derived frompoupette
  3. Middle English · inherited frompopet
  4. English todaypuppet

From Middle English popet, probably from, though attested earlier than, Middle French poupette, diminutive of poupée (cf. also Medieval Latin *pupata), ultimately derived from Latin pupa (“doll, puppet; girl”). The nominal form first appears c. 1531, and the verbal form c. 1635. See also puppy.

Words from the same roots

Latinpupa all →

pupapupaphobia

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.