Lips
/lɪps/noun
The soft, movable edges of the mouth used for speaking, eating, and kissing.
Did you know?English lips comes from Old English lippa, and the deeper Indo-European root is linked to the mouth/jaw area, showing how early languages treated speech as something physically embodied.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leb-
“A root associated with the mouth, lips, or licking in early Indo-European reconstruction.”
Old English
OE
lippa
“Lip; the edge of the mouth.”
Middle English
ME
lippe
“Lip.”
Modern English
English
lips
“The two fleshy parts forming the edges of the mouth.”