Etymograph

English

kippage

Kippage comes from French équipage ‘crew (of a boat), ship's company’, from équiper ‘to supply’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skipą ‘ship’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skipą1‘ship’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skipōną1‘to ship, sail, embark’next step skipped: Old English sċipian
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esquiper1
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600esquiper1
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentéquiper2‘to supply’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentéquipage3‘crew (of a boat), ship's company’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2008kippage3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French équiper
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French équipage
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English kippage
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies: “To find a kippage for a convict ship was…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skipąWiktionary, French équiper‘ship’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skipōnąWiktionary, French équiper‘to ship, sail, embark’next step skipped: Old English sċipian
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esquiperWiktionary, French équiper
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600esquiperWiktionary, French équiper
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentéquiperWiktionary, French équipage‘to supply’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentéquipageWiktionary, English kippage‘crew (of a boat), ship's company’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2008kippageWiktionary, English kippage. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies: “To find a kippage for a convict ship was…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split, to dissect’

nice, science, scientific, shift, shed, conscious, kyle, ski, shin, squire, sheath, skipper, skeet, scuttle, prescient, chine, skein, scullery, shud, 40 more

through Proto-Germanic *skipą ‘ship’

shipping, skip, skiff, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *skipōną ‘to ship, sail, embark’

ship, 1 more

through French équiper ‘to supply’

equipment, equip

Today it means

noun Those sailing together on a ship, both crew and passengers.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kippage”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for French équiper, French équipage. 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 *skipą / kippage

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