Etymograph

English

hip

Hip comes from Old English hype, from Proto-West Germanic *hupi, from Proto-Germanic *hupiz ‘hip, haunch’, of uncertain origin.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hupiz1‘hip, haunch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hupi1‘hip’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hype1‘hip’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hipe1‘hip’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1887hip1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hip
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1887, John Alexander Low Waddell: “in all bridges preference will be given to designs…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hupizWiktionary, English hip‘hip, haunch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hupiWiktionary, English hip‘hip’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hypeWiktionary, English hip‘hip’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hipeWiktionary, English hip‘hip’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1887hipWiktionary, English hip. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1887, John Alexander Low Waddell: “in all bridges preference will be given to designs…”

The story

The sense "drug addict" derives from addicts lying on their hips while using certain drugs such as opium.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-

incumbent, cove, cubicle, succumb, concubine, succubus, incubus, incubate, hobble, shoop, cubit, 13 more

Another origin of hip

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewb-‘briar, thorn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*heupǭ‘thornbush’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēope
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hepe
  5. Englishtodayhip

Another origin of hip

  1. Wolofmodernhepi‘to see’uncertain
  2. Englishtodayhip

Unknown or disputed.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. Probably a variant of hep; both forms are attested from the first decade of the 20th century. Some sources suggest derivation from Wolof hepi (‘to see’) or hipi (‘to open one’s eyes’). Others suggest connection to the noun, as opium smokers were said to lie on a hip.

Today it means

noun The outward-projecting parts of the pelvis and top of the femur and the overlying tissue.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hip”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *hupiz / hip

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