Etymology
1. "to cut," 1362, perhaps from O.Fr. (Picard)
choper, from O.Fr.
coper "to cut off," from V.L.
*cuppare "to decapitate," infl. by
couper "to strike." Meaning "slice of meat" is c.1640; hence,
chop-house (1690).
Chopper, slang for "helicopter," dates from 1951, Korean War military slang. Meaning "stripped-down modified motorcycle" is from 1965.
2. From Middle English choppen, chappen (“to chop”), of uncertain origin, possibly onomatopoeic (cf. Swedish tjoff), or a variant of chap (“to become cracked”).
3. Cognate with Scots chap (“to chop”). Compare also Saterland Frisian kappe, kapje (“to hack; chop; lop off”), Dutch kappen (“to chop, cut, hew”), German Low German kappen (“to cut off; clip”), German kappen (“to cut; clip”), German dialectal chapfen, kchapfen (“to chop into small pieces”), Albanian copë (“piece, chunk”), Old English *ċippian (in forċippian (“to cut off”)). Perhaps related to chip.
4. Compare French couper (“to chop”), Ancient Greek κόπτω (kóptō, “to strike, cut”), Swedish and Norwegian kapa, kappa, kabba (“to chop/cut (off)”). See: Middle English '
choppen', Frisian, Saterlandic 'kappe', Dutch '
kappen', German, old spelling '
kappen'.
Verbs referencing "chop"
English
chump, Dutch
tjappen.