Etymograph

English

strip

Origin unknown. Strip is of unknown origin.

The story

From alteration of stripe or from Middle Low German strippe, of uncertain ultimate origin, perhaps derived from a lost strong verb Proto-Germanic *strīpaną, with no clear cognates outside of Germanic except for Irish sríab (‘line, stripe’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Another origin of strip

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ter(h₁)-‘to be stiff’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*strēpōnąreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150strīepan‘plunder’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500strepen
  5. Englishtodaystrip

Probably related to German Strafe (‘deprivation, fine, punishment’).

Today it means

noun A long, thin piece of land; any long, thin area.

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

Etymograph / strip

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