† hepen.

Etymology: Identical with Middle High German, Middle Low German hepe , early modern Dutch heepe , Dutch heep sickle-shaped pruning-knife or bill; other forms of which are Middle High German, Middle Low German heppe , modern German heppe , hippe , Old High German habba , happa , hęppa < *happja < Old Germanic *haƀjôn , < pre-Germanic root kop- , whence probably Greek κοπίς chopper, cleaver, broad curved knife. As there is no cognate word in Old English, its appearance in Gower, and this apparently in a proverbial phrase (compare ‘by hook or by crook’ under hook n.¹), is not easy to account for.