An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Wippe

by Friedrich Kluge

Wippe, f., ‘critical point, see-saw, seat (of a swing), crane,’ ModHG. only, borrowed from LG.; comp. Du. wippen, ‘to let fly, jerk, rock.’ The genuine HG. form is OHG. and MidHG. wipf, ‘swing, quick movement’; in MidHG. also wîfen, str. vb., ‘to swing’ (see weifen). The Teut. root wī̆p, ‘to move with a rocking motion,’ contained in these cognates (and in Wipfel), is based on pre-Teut. wī̆b, whence also Lat. vibrare, ‘to vibrate’; allied to the earlier Aryan variant wī̆p, in Sans. vip, ‘to tremble,’ OHG. weibôn, ‘to totter.’