hop | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

50 entries found.

"larva of a butterfly or moth," mid-15c., catyrpel, probably altered (by association with Middle English piller "plunderer;" see pillage (n.)) from Old North French caterpilose "caterpillar" (Old French chatepelose), literally "shaggy cat" (probably in reference to the "wooly-bear" variety), from Late Latin catta pilosa, from catta "cat" (see cat (n.)) + pilosus "hairy, shaggy, covered with hair," from pilus "hair" (see pile (n.3)).

Compare also French chenille "caterpillar," literally "little dog." A Swiss German name for it is teufelskatz "devil's cat." "The caterpillar has in many idioms received the name of other animals" [Kitchin, who cites also Milanese cagnon "little dog," Italian dialectal gattola "little cat," Kentish hop-dog, hop-cat, Portuguese lagarta "lizard."] Compare also American English wooly-bear for the hairy variety. An Old English name for it was cawelworm "cole-worm." Caterpillar tractor, one which travels on endless steel belts, is from 1908, so called from its way of moving.

hobble (v.)

c. 1300, hoblen "to rock back and forth, toss up and down," probably from or cognate with dialectal German hoppeln, Dutch hobbelen "toss, ride on a hobby-horse; stutter, stammer" (which, however, is not recorded before late 15c.). Or perhaps a variant frequentative of hop (v.).

Meaning "to walk lamely" is from c. 1400. Transitive sense of "tie the legs (of an animal)" to impede or prevent free motion first recorded 1831, probably an alteration of 16c. hopple, cognate with Flemish hoppelen "to rock, jump," which also is related to Dutch hobbelen. Sense of "hamper, hinder" is c. 1870. Related: Hobbled; hobbling.

sock (n.1)

"knitted or woven covering for the foot, short stocking," early 14c., from Old English socc "slipper, light shoe," from Latin soccus "slipper, light low-heeled shoe," probably a variant of Greek sykchos, word for a kind of shoe, perhaps from Phrygian or another Asiatic language. The Latin word was borrowed generally in West Germanic (Middle Dutch socke, Dutch sok, Old High German soc, German Socke). To knock the socks off (someone) "beat thoroughly" is recorded from 1845, American English colloquial. Teen slang sock hop is c. 1950, from notion of dancing without shoes.

frolic (v.)

"make merry, have fun, romp playfully," 1580s, from frolic (adj.) "joyous, merry, full of mirth" (1530s), from Middle Dutch vrolyc "happy," a compound of vro- "merry, glad" + lyc "like" (see like (adj.)). The first part of the compound is cognate with Old Norse frar "swift," Middle English frow "hasty," from PIE *preu- "to hop" (see frog (n.1)), giving the whole an etymological sense akin to "jumping for joy." Similar formation in German fröhlich "happy." Related: Frolicked; frolicking. As a noun from 1610s.

trip (v.)

late 14c., "tread or step lightly and nimbly, skip, dance, caper," from Old French triper "jump around, dance around, strike with the feet" (12c.), from a Germanic source (compare Middle Dutch trippen "to skip, trip, hop; to stamp, trample," Low German trippeln, Frisian tripje, Dutch trappen, Old English treppan "to tread, trample") related to trap (n.).

The senses of "to stumble" (intransitive), "strike with the foot and cause to stumble" (transitive) are from mid-15c. in English. Meaning "to release" (a catch, lever, etc.) is recorded from 1897; trip-wire is attested from 1868. Related: Tripped; tripping.

hope (v.)

Old English hopian "have the theological virtue of Hope; hope for (salvation, mercy), trust in (God's word)," also "to have trust, have confidence; assume confidently or trust" (that something is or will be so), a word of unknown origin. Not the usual Germanic term for this, but in use in North Sea Germanic languages (cognates: Old Frisian hopia, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch hopen; Middle High German hoffen "to hope," which is borrowed from Low German).

From early 13c. as "to wish for" (something), "desire." Related: Hoped; hoping. To hope against hope (1610s) "hold to hope in the absence of any justification for hope" echoes Romans iv.18:

Who against hope, beleeued in hope, that hee might become the father of many nations: according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seede bee. [King James Version, 1611]

The Wycliffite Bible (c. 1384) has this as "Abraham agens hope bileuede that he schulde be maad fadir of manye folkis."

hope (n.)

late Old English hopa "confidence in the future," especially "God or Christ as a basis for hope," from hope (v.). From c. 1200 as "expectation of something desired;" also "trust, confidence; wishful desire;" late 14c. as "thing hoped for," also "grounds or basis for hope." Personified since c. 1300. Related: Hopes.

Compare Old Frisian and Middle Dutch hope, Danish haab, Dutch hoop, all from their respective verbs. For forlorn hope, see forlorn.

hoping (n.)

c. 1300, verbal noun from hope (v.).

hopeful (adj.)

c. 1200, "full of hope," from hope (n.) + -ful. From 1560s as "having qualities which excited hope." As a noun, "one on whom hopes are set," from 1720. Often ironic in colloquial use, of willful or incorrigible offspring. Related: Hopefulness.

hoplite (n.)

"heavy-armed foot soldier of ancient Greece," 1727, from Greek hoplites "heavy-armed," as a noun, "heavy-armed soldier, man-at-arms," from hopla "arms and armor, gear for war," plural of hoplon "tool, weapon, implement." One who carries a large shield, as opposed to a peltastes, so called for his small, light shield (pelte).

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