An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/kappen

by Friedrich Kluge

kappen, verb, ‘to chop, lop,’ Modern High German simply, from Dutch kappen, ‘to split’; compare Danish kappe and English chap. In UpAlsat. kchapfe is found with the High German form; allied also to the dialectic graded forms kipfen, kippen; hence the Teutonic root kep, kapp.