Etymograph

English

tip

Tip comes from Middle English tip.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tip1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599tip1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tip
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “I thinke he thinkes vpon the sauage bull: /…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tipWiktionary, English tip
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599tipWiktionary, English tip. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1598–1599, Much Adoe about Nothing: “I thinke he thinkes vpon the sauage bull: /…”

The story

Perhaps distantly related to top.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Explore everything descended from tip →

Another origin of tip

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tippen‘to fall, be overturned’
  2. Englishtodaytip

From Late Middle English tippen, possibly from North Germanic/Scandinavian (compare Swedish tippa (‘to topple over’)), or a special use of Etymology 1.

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun The extreme end of something, especially when pointed; e.g. the sharp end of a pencil.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tip”. 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 / Middle English tip / tip