different between guimpe vs gimp

English

Etymology

From French guimpe, from Middle French guimpe, from Old French guimple (“wimple”), from Frankish *wimpil, *wimpila (“head scarf”), from Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz, from *w?pan? ("to wind, sling, garland, swing"; from Proto-Indo-European *wimb-, *weyb- (“to turn, rotate”)) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). Cognate with Old High German wimpal and winfila (“head scarf”), Middle Dutch wumpel (“cap”), Old English wimpel, winpel (“wimple”), Old Norse vimpill (“hood, veil”). Also influenced by Old French guimpre (“a kind of trimming”), from the same Germanic source. More at wimple.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mp/

Noun

guimpe (countable and uncountable, plural guimpes)

1. Gimp; a narrow flat braid or reinforced cord of fabric used for ornamental trimming.
2. A kind of short, high-necked blouse with sleeves of the late Victorian era, designed to be worn under a low-cut dress, jumper, or pinafore dress.
3. A kind of short chemisette or yoke insert made of lace, embroidery, or the like, worn with a low-necked dress.
4. A wimple; a wide, stiffly starched cloth that covers the neck and shoulders, as part of the habit of nuns of certain orders.
   • 1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld

     All the nuns at the convent wore plain blouses and skirts except for Sister Edgar, who had permission from the motherhouse to fit herself out in the old things with the arcane names, the wimple, cincture and guimpe.

French

Etymology

From Middle French guimpe, from Old French guimple (“wimple”), from Frankish *wimpil, *wimpila (“head scarf”), from Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz, from *w?pan? ("to wind, sling, garland, swing"; from Proto-Indo-European *wimb-, *weyb- (“to turn, rotate”)) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). Cognate with Old High German wimpal and winfila (“head scarf”), Middle Dutch wumpel (“cap”), Old English wimpel, winpel (“wimple”), Old Norse vimpill (“hood, veil”). Also influenced by Old French guimpre (“a kind of trimming”), from the same Germanic source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???p/

Noun

guimpe f (plural guimpes)

1. (religion) wimple
2. chemisette (UK), dickey (US)

Further reading

• “guimpe” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology 1

Attested since about 1660, perhaps from Dutch gimp or French guimpe, and likely from Old French guimpre, a variant of guipure, a kind of trimming.

The regional sense of "gumption" is attested since about 1905, and may have developed due to the reinforced nature of gimp cord, or possibly the influence of the words gumption and gumph.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

gimp (countable and uncountable, plural gimps)

1. A narrow ornamental fabric or braid of silk, wool, or cotton, often stiffened with metallic wire or coarse cord running through it, used as trimming for dresses, curtains, furniture, etc. Also guimpe.
2. Any coarse or reinforced thread, such as a glazed thread employed in lacemaking to outline designs, or silk thread used as a fishing leader, protected from the bite of fish by a wrapping of fine wire.
   • 1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber 2007, p. 87:

     I'm a fisher of men and my gimp is doing a saltarello over every body of water to fetch up what it may.

3. The plastic cord used in the plaiting and knotting craft Scoubidou (lanyard making); or, the process itself.
4. (dated, chiefly North Eastern US) Gumption

   Synonyms: spirit, ambition, vigor, pep

Related terms

• guimpe

Translations

Verb

gimp (third-person singular simple present gimps, present participle gimping, simple past and past participle gimped)

1. (of yarn, cord, thread, etc.) To wrap or wind (surround) with another length of yarn or wire in a tight spiral, often by means of a gimping machine, creating 'gimped yarn', etc. Also, generally, to wrap or twist with string or wire. See gimped.
   • 1856, Campbell Morfit, A Treatise on Chemistry Applied to the Manufacture of Soap and Candles, page 435 with illustration

     It consists of seventy fine spun cotton threads, gimped or tied around with thread by a machine similar to that for wrapping bonnet wire.
2. (dated) To notch or indent; to jag or make jagged; to edge with serrations or grooves.

Etymology 2

Attested in US slang since the 1920s. Maybe influenced by, or cognate with limp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

gimp (plural gimps)

1. (informal) A person who is lame due to a crippling of the legs or feet.

   Synonyms: cripple, disabled (person)

2. (informal) A crippled leg.
3. (informal) A limp or a limping gait.
4. (slang, derogatory) A name-calling word, generally for a person who is perceived to be inept, deficient or peculiar

   Synonyms: dweeb, nerd, geek, gump, spod, dork

5. (BDSM) A sexual submissive, almost always male, dressed generally in a black leather suit. See Gimp (sadomasochism) in Wikipedia.
6. (video games, slang, derogatory) A character or ability that is underpowered.

Related terms

• gimp suit
• gimpy

Translations

Verb

gimp (third-person singular simple present gimps, present participle gimping, simple past and past participle gimped)

1. (intransitive, informal) To limp; to hobble.
2. (transitive, video games, slang) To make underpowered; to limit or restrict the useful effects of.

   Synonym: nerf

Etymology 3

Scots. Alternate form of jimp. Compare Welsh gwymp (“fair, neat, comely”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Adjective

gimp (comparative more gimp, superlative most gimp)

1. (dated, Scotland and N England) Neat; trim; delicate; slender; handsome; spruce; elegant.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:gimp.

References

• 1846, John T. Brockett, A Glossary of North Country Words, page 190

Anagrams

• pIgM