sip

See also: Sip, SIP, -sip, síp, Síp, şip, šíp, and сип

English

Etymology

From Middle English sippen, of uncertain origin. Compare with Low German sippen (“to sip”). Possibly from a variant of Middle English suppen (“to drink, sip”) (see sup) or perhaps from Old English sipian, sypian (“to take in moisture, soak, macerate”), from Proto-Germanic *sipōną (“to drip, trickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyb- (“to pour out, trickle, leak out”). Compare also Old High German supfen (“to drink, sip”), from Proto-Germanic *sūpaną (“to sip, intake”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭp, IPA^(key): /sɪp/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪp

Noun

sip (plural sips)

1. A small mouthful of drink
2. An event at which people drink alcohol in small, usually sub-intoxicating amounts.
   • 1985 April 20, Joseph Beam, “Black Men Loving Black Men: The Revolutionary Act of the Eighties”, in Gay Community News, page 5:

     Earl is always a good time. His appearance at parties, whether it's a smart cocktail sip or a basement gig, is mandatory.

Translations

A small mouthful of drink

• Arabic: مَصَّة (maṣṣa), رَشْفَة (rašfa)
• Bulgarian: глътка (bg) f (glǎtka)
• Catalan: glop (ca) m, glopet m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抿 (zh) (mǐn), 啜 (zh)

• Dalmatian: suars m
• Danish: sip n, nip n, slurk c
• Esperanto: trinketo
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: siemaus (fi)
• French: gorgée (fr) f
• Galician: chisco (gl) m, pinga (gl) f, fecha (gl) f, fechiña f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can ყლუპი
• German: Schlückchen (de) n
• Greek: γουλιά (el) f (gouliá)
• Hebrew: לְגִימָה (he) f (l'gimá)
• Hungarian: korty (hu)
• Icelandic: sopi (is) m
• Ido: drinketo
• Irish: bolgam m
• Italian: sorso (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قوم (qum)

• Latvian: malks m
• Lithuanian: gurkšnis m
• Macedonian: срк m (srk)
• Maltese: sipp m, belgħa f
• Mapudungun: ofqui
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: gole (pt) m
• Romanian: gură (ro) f, înghițitură (ro) f , sorbitură (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: balgam m
• Spanish: sorbo (es) m
• Swedish: smutt (sv) c, slurk (sv) c
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: ซด (th) (sót)
• Turkish: yudum (tr)
• Vietnamese: hớp (vi)
• Zazaki: qult (diq) f

Verb

sip (third-person singular simple present sips, present participle sipping, simple past and past participle sipped)

1. (transitive) To drink slowly, small mouthfuls at a time.
   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, “In the Vault”, in Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC, pages 62–63:

     He held out to me a bowl of steaming broth, that filled the room with a savour sweeter, ten thousand times, to me than every rose and lily of the world; yet would not let me drink it at a gulp, but made me sip it with a spoon like any baby.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed.

   • 2013 August 3, “Revenge of the nerds”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

     bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.

2. (intransitive) To drink a small quantity.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     [She] rais'd it to her mouth with sober grace; / Then, sipping, offered to the next in place.

3. To taste the liquor of; to drink out of.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     They skim the floods, and sip the purple flowers.

4. (Scotland, US, dated) Alternative form of seep
5. (figurative) To consume slowly.
   • 1995, Richard North, Life on a Modern Planet: A Manifesto for Progress‎^[1], Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 80:

     Sales of lightbulbs which sip electricity, and whose increased cost in the shops is easily paid for over their lifetime, used to double every year; in 1990/1991, they leapt sevenfold.

   • 2008 July 3, “The presidential election: White men can vote”, in The Economist‎^[2]:

     It makes a small car, the Chevy Cobalt, which sips petrol in moderation and is therefore selling well.

   • 2014 October 20, Erik Hyrkas, "Energy Vampires are Attacking Your Home – Here’s How to Stop Them" (Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy)

     Even when turned off, these devices can idly sip electricity from your outlet costing you money.

Synonyms

• nurse
• See also Thesaurus:drink

Derived terms

• latte-sipping
• paint and sip
• sip and puff
• sip-and-see
• sip-and-see party

 

Translations

to drink slowly, small mouthfuls at a time

• Aklanon: higop
• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} تَجَرَّعَ (tajarraʕa), مَزّ (mazz), كَرَع (karaʕ), رَشَفَ (rašafa), حَسَا (ḥasā), تَمَصّصَ, تَحَسّى, اِمْتَصّ (imtaṣṣ), اِرْتَشَفَ (irtašafa), اِحْتَسَى (iḥtasā)
• Aromanian: sorbu
• Bikol Central: higop (bcl)
• Bulgarian: сръбвам (bg) (srǎbvam), отпивам (bg) (otpivam)
• Catalan: xarrupar (ca)
• Cebuano: higop, supsop
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抿 (zh) (mǐn), 啜 (zh)

• Czech: srkat (cs) impf
• Danish: sippe, nippe
• Egyptian: (jmḥ), (ndb)
• Esperanto: trinketi
• Estonian: rüüpama
• Finnish: siemailla (fi)
• French: siroter (fr)
• Galician: beberricar
• German: nippen (de)
• Hebrew: לָגַם (he) (lagám)
• Higaonon: sinopsop
• Hungarian: kortyol (hu)
• Icelandic: bergja
• Ido: drinketar
• Isnag: ixup
• Italian: sorbire (it), sorseggiare
• Japanese: すする (ja) (susuru)
• Latin: sorbillō, dēlībō
• Macedonian: срка (srka), сркнува (srknuva)
• Malay: hirup (ms)
• Maltese: ssippja
• Mongolian: амтлах (mn) (amtlax)
• Portuguese: bebericar (pt), sorver (pt)
• Punjabi: ਚੂਸਣਾ (cūsṇā)
• Quechua: ch'uqchuy, upiy
• Romanian: sorbi (ro)
• Russian: пригуби́ть (ru) (prigubítʹ)
• Spanish: sorber (es)
• Swedish: smutta (sv), läppja (sv)
• Tagalog: higop
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: จิบ (th) (jìp), ซด (th) (sót)
• Turkish: yudumlamak (tr)
• Vietnamese: hớp (vi)
• Western Bukidnon Manobo: hiɣup
• Zazaki: qult kerden

See also

• seep
• siphon

Anagrams

• IPS, IPs, ISP, Isp, PIs, PSI, SPI, iPS, isp, pis, psi

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsip]

Interjection

sip

1. (informal) yep

Dutch

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sip (comparative sipper, superlative sipst)

1. sad, subdued

   Synonyms: droevig, treurig

Inflection

Declension of sip
uninflected	sip
inflected	sippe
comparative	sipper
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		sip	sipper	het sipst het sipste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	sippe	sippere	sipste
	n. sing.	sip	sipper	sipste
	plural	sippe	sippere	sipste
definite		sippe	sippere	sipste
partitive		sips	sippers	—

Indonesian

Etymology

From English safe, from Middle English sauf, safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf (“safe”), from Latin salvus (“whole, safe”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole, every”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɪp]
• Hyphenation: sip

Adjective

sip

1. (colloquial) safe.
   1. not in danger; out of harm's reach.

      Synonym: aman

   2. free from risk.

      Synonym: terjamin

   3. reliable.

      Synonyms: mantap, elok, baik, sempurna

Further reading

• “sip” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Alternative forms

• sip-dhúntóir

Etymology

From English zip.

Noun

sip f (genitive singular sipe, nominative plural sipeanna)

1. zip, zipper, zip fastener

Declension

Declension of sip

Second declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative sip sipeanna Vocative a ship a shipeanna Genitive sipe sipeanna Dative sip sipeanna

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an tsip na sipeanna Genitive na sipe na sipeanna Dative leis an tsip don tsip leis na sipeanna

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
sip	ship after an, tsip	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “sip”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “sip”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm

Spanish

Etymology

Possibly a calque of English yep.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsip/ [ˈsip]
• Rhymes: -ip
• Syllabification: sip

Interjection

sip

1. (informal, neologism) yep, yeah, uh-huh

See also

• nop

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English ship.

Noun

sip

1. ship