An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wipfel

by Friedrich Kluge

Wipfel, masculine, ‘top (of a tree), summit,’ from Middle High German wipfel (wiffel), Old High German wipfil (wiffil), masculine, ‘top of a tree’; literally perhaps ‘that which rocks, swing,’ for the word is based on the Teutonic root wip, ‘to tremble, move, rock’ (see Wippe).