Skipper

Danish
Dutch
French
German
Spanish
Swedish: skeppare

Etymology

The stem of the word "skipper" goes back to the old Gothic word "skip" for ship which is known from the 4th century. The English "skipper" might have been a loan from the Dutch, but the origin is much older. In Middle German (and Scandinavian) the term "schifherre" or "schiphere" meant "master of the ship". In modern Swedish the same would be "skeppsherre". The form "schiphere" is known from 1292 and in the 15th century this has been developed into "schipper".

Updated 1998-06-29 by Lars Bruzelius

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