An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Pips

by Friedrich Kluge

Pips, m., ‘pip,’ a LG. and MidG. form for the earlier ModHG. Pfipfs, from MidHG. and OHG. pfiffī̆z pfiffī̆ȥ, pfipfī̆ȥ, m., ‘pip’ (horny pellicle on the tip of a fowl's tongue). Borrowed at the beginning of the OHG. period or earlier (perhaps contemporaneously with Flaum and Kissen?) from MidLat. pipita, whence also Ital. pipita, Fr. pépie; likewise Du. and E. pip. The ultimate source of all the cognates is Lat. pī̆tuîta, ‘slime, phlegm, pip.’ In Henneberg the equiv. Zipf originated in the same prim. word through the intermediate form *tipwita.