O.E. stocc "stump, post, stake, tree trunk, log," also "pillory" (usually plural, stocks), from P.Gmc. *stukkaz "tree trunk" (cf. O.N. stokkr "block of wood, trunk of a tree," O.S., O.Fris. stok, M.Du. stoc "tree trunk, stump," Du. stok "stick, cane," O.H.G. stoc "tree trunk, stick," Ger. Stock "stick, cane;" also Du. stuk, Ger. Stück "piece"), from PIE *(s)teu- (see steep (adj.)). Meaning "ancestry, family" (1382) is a fig. use of the "tree trunk" sense (cf. family tree). This is also th a2a e root of the meaning "heavy part of a tool," and "part of a rifle held against the shoulder" (1541). Stock, lock, and barrel "the whole of a thing" is recorded from 1817. Meaning "framework on which a boat was constructed" (1422) led to fig. phrase on stocks "planned and commenced" (1669). Stock-still (c.1470) is lit. "as still as a tree trunk."

–noun

1.	a slender or pointed end or extremity, esp. of anything long or tapered: the tips of the fingers.

2.	the top, summit, or apex: the tip of the mountain.

3.	a small piece or part, as of metal or leather, forming or covering the extremity of something: a cane with a rubber tip.

4.	Also called tip-in, tip-on. an insert, as an illustration, map, or errata slip, pasted to a page of a book, magazine, etc., usually along the binding margin.

5.	a small, delicate tool made of fine hair cemented between two cards, for applying gold leaf.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to furnish with a tip.

7.	to serve as or form the tip of.

8.	to mark or adorn the tip of.

9.	to remove the tip or stem of (berries or certain fruits or vegetables).

10.	to frost the ends of (hair strands): I'm having my hair cut and tipped tomorrow.

—Verb phrase

11.	tip in, Bookbinding. to paste the inner margin of (a map, illustration, or other plate) into a signature before gathering.