kelp

noun, verb — 5 senses

kelp

noun

US, UK /kɛlp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English *kelpe, culpe, *kilpe (Early Modern English kilpe), of unclear origin, though the attested forms point to Old English *cylp, possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kulpi, from Proto-Germanic *kulpiz (“lump, boll”, referencing the airsacks of species such as bladderwrack and knotweed), potentially a substrate term connected to Latin globus (“globe”) and Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“clump”). If the above theory is accepted, cognate with Low German Kulp, Külp, Kulpe (“lump in the eye, ball, thick nose”), Norwegian Nynorsk kulp (“short tube”), and Swedish kulp (“stout person”); further compare Bavarian Kolpel (“lump of stone”), Icelandic kúlpa (“to protrude”), Low German kulpen, külpen (“to pile up”), Low German Kulpogen (“large eye”), and West Frisian kolpje (“to pout”).

1

Any of several large brown algae seaweeds (especially of order Laminariales).

  • Underneath the area demarcated by the buoys, Ms Puckett plants kelp—a type of seaweed—on long ropes that resemble washing lines.2021 June 26, “Why New England is going wild for wet weeds”, in The Economist, →ISSN:
2

The calcined ashes of seaweed, formerly used in glass and iodine manufacture.

Derived terms
bladder kelp, bull kelp, feather boa kelp, giant kelp, golden kelp, kelp bass, kelp bed, kelp crab, kelper, kelpfish, kelp forest, kelp goose, kelp greenling, kelp gull, kelp pigeon, kelp salmon, kelpwort, stalked kelp, sugar kelp
Hyponyms
kombu
Meronyms
stipe

kelp

verb
Etymology

Inherited from Middle English *kelpe, culpe, *kilpe (Early Modern English kilpe), of unclear origin, though the attested forms point to Old English *cylp, possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kulpi, from Proto-Germanic *kulpiz (“lump, boll”, referencing the airsacks of species such as bladderwrack and knotweed), potentially a substrate term connected to Latin globus (“globe”) and Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“clump”). If the above theory is accepted, cognate with Low German Kulp, Külp, Kulpe (“lump in the eye, ball, thick nose”), Norwegian Nynorsk kulp (“short tube”), and Swedish kulp (“stout person”); further compare Bavarian Kolpel (“lump of stone”), Icelandic kúlpa (“to protrude”), Low German kulpen, külpen (“to pile up”), Low German Kulpogen (“large eye”), and West Frisian kolpje (“to pout”).

1

To gather kelp.

  • Just before we reached Seward the pilot got a radio message that a fishing boat in Thumb Cove had some kelp […] Neither of us had ever kelped before but there wasn't much to it, and we started bringing in full boxes back to Eads' barge.2018, John Walter Sutherland, Resurrection Road, page 94:
Derived terms
kelper

kelp

noun

Etymology From Middle English kelpe, kylpe, from Old Norse kilpr (“the handle of a vessel, loop”). Related to Old Norse kelpa (“otter trap”).

1

Dialectal A hook or crook by which a pot is hung over a fire.

2

Obsolete A sheath.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.