An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wimpel

by Friedrich Kluge

Wimpel, masculine and feminine, ‘pennon, flag, streamer,’ from Middle High German wimpel, feminine and masculine, ‘banner, flag, naval ensign, kerchief,’ Old High German wimpal, ‘frontlet, veil.’ Allied to French guimpe (Old French guimple), ‘wimple, stomacher,’ Dutch wimpel, Anglo-Saxon winpel, wimpel, English wimple. The exact relation of these apparently compound words to one another is obscure, since the Low German dialects have mp coinciding with High German (we should have expected mf in High German). Since it is not yet known in which group it was borrowed, nothing definite can be said concerning its early history. The evolution in meaning is similar to that of Fahne.