Etymology of Chip
The word ‘chip’ has come from the old English word ‘for cippan’ meaning ‘to cut off’.
The noun form of the word ‘chip’ means ‘a small piece of wood’ which is removed in the course of chopping of the word. The first known use of it was in the 14th century.
Thereafter this sense has been extended to similar pieces from a larger one. For eg. granite chips. A reference may be made to the literary use of the word.
In 1620, it as used as chip of the same block. Milton has altered this expression as chip of the old block meaning in 1642.
In 1769, ‘chip’ stood for ‘thin slices of fruits’. It is very interesting to note that the current famous notion of ‘potato chips’ was employed by Dickens in his novel, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. In American English, it gained the meaning of ‘piece of dried dung’ in 1846.
“How well dost thou now appeare to be a Chip of the old block” - Milton
It acquired the meaning of counter used in a game of chance from 1840 e.g. poker chip. It is extensively used in different kinds of sports.
In football, it stands for a lofted kick or stroke. Similarly in wrestling, it refers to a trickily as special method by whip an opponent can be thrown.
It has gained the electronic sense from 1962. It means a tiny wafer of semiconductor material such as silicon proceeds to form a type of integrated circuit or compound such as a transistor.
Another meaning of chip is something small worthless or trivial. For example the phrase cheap as chip was used in an advertisement in the times magazine in 1850.
In New Zealand, the expression also refers to a container for soft fruit, made of thin sheets of wood.
It also means a thin strip of wood or straw used for making woven hats, baskets.
( From ‘The English language’ by C.l. wrenn)
Shashankar Patil | Secretary, Lingua Odyssey, and a teacher at Likhi Primary School
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