Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps < one or more of the following, all ultimately < an unattested post-classical Latin form *puppa , variant (with consonant gemination) of classical Latin pūpa girl, doll (see pupa n.): (a) partly < Middle French poupee doll (see poupée n.; compare quot. c1450² at sense 1), and partly < Middle French poupart (c1210 in Old French as popart ; French poupard ; compare quot. c1450¹ at sense 1) baby in a cradle (c1210; the sense ‘doll representing a baby’ is apparently not paralleled until much later (1680); < post-classical Latin *puppa + Old French -art -ard suffix), with suffix substitution in both cases (compare -et suffix¹); (b) < Anglo-Norman poppe doll (also puppe (early 13th cent. or earlier, in a gloss); < post-classical Latin *puppa ) + -et suffix¹; compare Middle French (Lorraine) poppe , French regional (Walloon, eastern) poppe , poupe doll (1530 in Middle French), which is attested in an area running from Belgium to western Switzerland, along the linguistic border with Dutch and German (see further Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at *puppa); perhaps compare also Anglo-Norman pupie (second half of the 13th cent. or earlier in a glossary in uncertain sense, glossing post-classical Latin pupa ); (c) < Middle Dutch pop, poppe (Dutch pop ) little child (mid 14th cent.), doll (1429 or earlier in the compound poppegoet dolls and similar children's toys collectively (Dutch poppegoed ); this is now the usual sense in Dutch), girl (especially one regarded as frivolous or immoral) (second half of the 15th cent. or earlier; < post-classical Latin *puppa : see below) + -et suffix¹; (d) < Middle French, French (now regional: chiefly Northern, Channel Islands) poupette doll (although this is apparently first attested later: 1583; < poupe + -ette -ette suffix). Several other Romance and Germanic languages also have words denoting variously ‘doll’, ‘baby’, ‘little girl’, some of which are borrowed from the post-classical Latin word, some from the classical Latin word. Compare Italian pupa , †puppa doll, girl, especially little girl (1611 in Florio, although the sense ‘girl’ is apparently rare before the 20th cent.; originally regional (Emilia Romagna)), Romansh (Surselvan, Engadine) poppa doll, (Upper Engadine) pópa small child, Middle Low German poppe , puppe doll, (rare) girl (as a term of endearment), early modern German boppe , pup , puppe doll, in later use also (colloquial, chiefly as a term of endearment) girl (15th cent.; late 14th cent. in the derivative pippel ); German Puppe ). Compare later puppet n., and also later puppy n., pop n.², pup n.¹ With sense 2b compare earlier poppin n.Apparently attested earlier as a surname (in a form corresponding to those at puppet n.), although it is uncertain whether this is to be interpreted as reflecting currency of the Middle English word or an (otherwise unattested) Anglo-Norman word: Willelmus Pupet (1191). With sense 2c perhaps compare popet n. With sense 4b compare poppet-head n. 1. With sense 4c compare slightly earlier poppet valve n.

Etymology: < poppet n.