English
kipper
Kipper comes from Old English cypera ‘male salmon’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cypera‘male salmon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836kipper
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cypera‘male salmon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836kipper
Earliest quotation: 1836, – 1837 October, Charles Dickens: “There was kippered salmon, and Finnan haddocks, and a…”
The story
From Old English cypera (‘male salmon’), perhaps related to Old English coper (‘reddish-brown metal’) (see copper), on resemblance of color.
Every English word from Old English cypera
Today it means
noun A split, salted and smoked herring or salmon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English cypera / kipper