Etymology: Apparently < Middle French, French poupée poupée n. (compare -y suffix⁵); compare poppet n. and puppet n., which are probably ultimately related to this word, and which show some semantic overlap; compare also pup n.¹, which is probably shortened from this word, although the earliest examples of each word are somewhat ambiguous (see discussion below). Sense 1 is not paralleled in French, and is shown rather later by puppet n. (see puppet n. 1), perhaps under the influence of the present word; this sense perhaps developed (in spite of the chronology) from sense 2 in English, or perhaps from the sense ‘childish person’ in French, or perhaps from the identification of both a doll and a pet dog as ‘playthings’ (however, the transferred sense ‘hobby’ in French is first attested much later (1694), and seems unlikely to play a part in the explanation).The spelling popis in quot. 1486 at sense 1a could instead be interpreted as showing pup n.¹, with -is showing the plural ending (as also could poppys and popys in manuscripts from the same textual tradition, in which -ys is the regular plural ending, but in which for example connys can also be found for the plural of coney n.¹). In sense 5 apparently after dog n.¹ (compare dog n.¹ 16). In sense 6 apparently a playful transferred use of sense 1b (in view of the chronological gap, connection with bubby n.¹ seems unlikely, although perhaps compare the foreign-language forms cited at that entry). In sense 7 perhaps also originally a semi-affectionate term, arising from 1b.

Etymology: < puppy n. Compare later pup v.²