Fillip Definition
Other Word Forms of Fillip
Noun
Origin of Fillip
-
From Middle English philippe, filippen (“to make a sound with right forefinger and thumb, snap”). Origin uncertain. Probably an alteration of Middle English flappen (“to hit, slap, clap, applaud”). More at flap.A fillip gradually became “something of small importance; a trifle.” “The rest is not worth a fillip with the finger.” And, the word could also express a short space of time (perhaps the time it took to “flick” the finger). “The tortoise..in a fillip of the finger was down in the gardens of Riu Gu.” Only in the 18th and 19th centuries did its current usage, as encouragement or stimulus, tend to dominate.
From Wiktionary
Imitative
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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