Etymograph

English

equip

Equip comes from French équiper ‘to supply, fit out’, and goes back to Old French esquiper ‘to embark’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esquiper‘to embark’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentéquiper‘to supply, fit out’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1711equip

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esquiper‘to embark’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentéquiper‘to supply, fit out’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1711equip

Earliest quotation: 1711, SUNDAY, July 2, 1711: “The country are led astray in following the town,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *skipōną ‘to ship, sail, embark’

ship, 3 more

Today it means

verb To supply with something necessary in order to carry out a specific action or task; to provide with (e.g. weapons, provisions, munitions, rigging).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French esquiper / equip

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