whoop

whoop · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wōpaz“shout, cry, wail”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wōp
3. Old English · inherited fromwōp“cry, outcry, shrieking, weeping, lamentation”
4. Middle English · inherited fromwop“weeping, lamentation”
5. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwōpaną“to boast, threaten”
6. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwōpan
7. Old French · derived fromhouper
8. Middle English · inherited fromwhopen
9. English todaywhoop

From Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen (“to whoop, cry out”), partially from Old French houper, hopper, houpper (“to shout”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwōpan, from Proto-Germanic *hwōpaną (“to boast, threaten”) (compare Gothic 𐍈𐍉𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ƕōpan, “to boast”), Old English hwōpan (“to threaten”)); and partially from Middle English wop (“weeping, lamentation”), from Old English wōp (“cry, outcry, shrieking, weeping, lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōp, from Proto-Germanic *wōpaz (“shout, cry, wail”) (compare Old Norse ópa (“to cry, scream, shout”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to cry out”)).

whoop · verb²

From a traditional African American and Southern US pronunciation of whip.