Etymograph

English

grip

Grip comes from Middle English grippen ‘to grip or grab onto’, from Old English grippan ‘to seize’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- ‘to grab, grasp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreyb-‘to grab, grasp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grīpaną‘to grab, grasp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gripjaną‘to grip’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150grippan‘to seize’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grippen‘to grip or grab onto’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1908grip

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰreyb-‘to grab, grasp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*grīpaną‘to grab, grasp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gripjaną‘to grip’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150grippan‘to seize’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grippen‘to grip or grab onto’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1908grip

Earliest quotation: 1908, A.D. Condo: “Grip! Grip!! The little touch of grip you had…”

The story

Verb from Middle English grippen, from Old English grippan, from a Proto-Germanic *gripjaną (compare Old High German gripfen); compare the related Old English grīpan, whence English gripe.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb-

Another origin of grip

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500grip‘a ditch, drain’
  2. Englishtodaysame form

Related also to Old English grōp (‘a ditch, drain’).

Today it means

verb To take hold (of), particularly with the hand.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- / grip

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