v. Also 6 eskippe, esquippe, 7 equippe, (8 acquip), 8 aphet. ’quip. [a. Fr. équipe-r, esquipe-r (whence Sp., Pg. esquipar), prob. ad. ON. skipa to man (a vessel), fit up, arrange, prob. f. skip = SHIP.
The Fr. word in the sense ‘to equip’ is app. not recorded before 16th c.; but it must have existed much earlier, at least in Afr. and Norman Fr.; cf. AF. eskipeson equipment (14th c.) and med.L. eschipāre to man a vessel (M. Paris 13th c.). The OF. esquiper, eschiper ‘to put or go on board a ship,’ ‘to put out to sea,’ is perh. a different word, but must ultimately be f. ON. or OS. skip ship.]
1. trans. To fit out (a ship).
1580. Baret, Alv., E 340. Esquippe, or furnishe ships with all ablements.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneis, I. (Arb.), 36. Ile ye man, esquipping youre ships with furniture aptlye.
1698–9. Ludlow, Mem., I. 389 (R.). The States-General gave Orders for equipping a considerable Fleet.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. x. 339. Equipping the ship for these two different voyages.
1837. Thirlwall, Greece, IV. xxxi. 184. Antiphon … had equipt two galleys at his own expense.
2. In wider sense: ‘To furnish for service’ (T.); to provide with what is requisite for efficient action, as arms, instruments, or apparatus of any kind. Hence fig. to furnish with the physical or mental qualifications necessary for any task. Const. with. Also of things: To constitute the equipment of.
1523. Wolsey, in Fiddes, Wolsey, II. (1726), 107. 50000 Soldiers largelie and plentifullye furnished eskipped and trymed.
1605. Verstegan, Dec. Intell. (1634), 205. A principall Courtier writing from London, to a personage of Authority … willed him among other things, to equippe his Horses.
1727. [E. Dorrington], Philip Quarll, 183. The Pens, Ink, and Parchment have acquip’d me to keep a Journal.
1742. Fielding, J. Andrews, III. viii. Can … any drugs equip disease with the vigour of that young man?
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., Pref. 6. Being so slenderly equipped as a writer.
1839. H. Rogers, Ess., I. iii. 107. How various … are the powers which must equip the truly great orator.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), I. i. 60. Every man was ready equipped at all times with the arms which corresponded to his rank.
1872. Yeats, Growth Comm., 151. Biörkö, one of the island cities, could equip an army of fourteen thousand burghers.
1879. M. Arnold, Democracy, Mixed Ess., 3. My aim is … not … to set on foot and fully equip a new theory.
1881. Chicago Times, 16 April. These lines [of railway] are all equipped in the best possible manner.
1885. Manch. Exam., 16 March, 5/2. A power of analysis equal to that which would equip a mathematician.
b. To supply with the pecuniary resources needful for any undertaking. Formerly also in slang or jocular use, to present with a sum of money.
c. 1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, The Cull equipt me with a brace of Meggs.
1762. Goldsm., Nash, 18. His companions agreed to equip him with fifty guineas.
1829. Lytton, Disowned, I. xx. 300. We must equip you by a mortgage on Scarsdale.
3. a. To array, dress up, rig out. Also with the thing worn as subj. b. With some notion of 2 (chiefly refl.): To dress, accoutre, fit out (for a journey).
a. 1695. Blackmore, Pr. Arth., IX. 304/254. A Cap of Crimson did his Head equip.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 129, ¶ 2. Equipped in a ridiculous Habit, when they fancy themselves in the Height of the Mode.
1741. Richardson, Pamela, I. 49. I had better get myself at once ’quipt in the Dress that will become my Condition.
1815. Scott, Guy M., iv. Equipt in a habit which mingled the national dress of the Scottish common people with something of an Eastern costume.
1836. W. Irving, Astoria, III. 239. Chinook warriors, all painted and equipped in warlike style.
fig. 1725. Wodrow, Corr. (1843), III. 210. Buchanan equipt them [epistles] with a French dress.
b. 1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), V. 72. It is Dr. Donne, equipped for the expedition to Cales.
1841. Lane, Arab. Nts., I. 4. He equipped himself for the journey.
1879. Jenkinson, Guide to Lakes, 236. The tourist will do well to equip himself with good strong boots.
