rip

rip · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*Hrewp-“to break”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*rupjaną
3. Middle English · inherited fromrippen
4. English todayrip

From Middle English rippen, from earlier ryppen (“to pluck”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rupjaną and/or *ruppōną, intensive of *raupijaną, causative of Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to break”). Possible doublet of rub. Cognate with West Frisian rippe, ripje, roppe, ropje (“to rip”), Dutch dialectal rippen, Low German ruppen, German Low German röpen, German rupfen, also Old English rīpan, rīepan (“to plunder”) (whence English reap), West Frisian rippe (“to rip, tear”), German raufen (“to rip”); perhaps also, less likely, Albanian rrabe (“maquis”) and Latin rubus (“bramble”). More at reave, rob, and rub.

rip · noun²

Uncertain; perhaps a variant of rep (“reprobate”).

RIP · interjection³

1. Latin · learned borrowing fromRIP
2. English todayRIP

Learned borrowing from Latin RIP (requiescat in pace) and an initialism of rest in peace.

RIP · noun⁴

Originally coined in Selker et al. (1987) as an acronym for rearrangement induced premeiotically, which was later renamed repeat-induced point mutation in Cambareri et al. (1989).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 18th c. A worthless horse; a nag.
• from 18th c. An immoral man; a rake, a scoundrel.