Etymograph

English

flip

Flip comes from Middle English filippen ‘to make a signal or sound with thumb and right…’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500filippen‘to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1851flip

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500filippen‘to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1851flip

Earliest quotation: 1851, Falconbridge, Dan. Marble: A Biographical Sketch: “[…] who looked at Dean a moment, crossed over…”

The story

Alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (‘to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers’), an attenuated variation of flappen (‘to flap, clap, slap, strike’).

Every English word from Middle English filippen

Today it means

noun A maneuver which rotates an object end over end.

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

Etymograph / Middle English filippen / flip

Shirt and support for this word