Zibbe

• Zippe (rare), Sibbe, Sipp, Ziwwe, Ziffe, Zipp (dialectal, archaic)

First attested in the 19th century. Probably from or related to Proto-West Germanic *tibā (“bitch, female dog”), whence also Middle Low German tēve, tiffe, Middle Dutch tēve (13th c., modern Dutch teef), Old English tife.^[1][2]

While the 19th-century attestation is surely belated, the total lack of medieval evidence and the fact that the word is native almost exclusively in East Central German, thus outside the original Old High German territory, make its inheritedness uncertain. One alternative would be a phonetically adapted borrowing from Low German (during the time of dialect mixing in the colonial areas), plausibly under the influence of Middle High German zūpe (“bitch, doe rabbit”). Note that the unadapted form is found in northern East Central German Tiffe (“cur”)^[3] as well as Ripuarian Tiff (“bitch”, locally also “doe rabbit”).^[4]

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsɪbə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Zibbe f (genitive Zibbe, plural Zibben)

1. (regional) ewe or nanny goat

   Synonyms: Schaf, Mutterschaf; Ziege, Zicke

2. (technical) doe hare or doe rabbit

   Synonym: Häsin

3. (dialectal or archaic) bitch, she-dog

   Synonym: Hündin

• “Zibbe” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Zibbe” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Zibbe” in Duden online