Meaning

noun the act of grasping

noun the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it

noun a portable rectangular container for carrying clothes

originVerb from Middle English grippen, from Old English grippan, from a Proto-Germanic *gripjaną (compare Old High German gripfen); compare the related Old English grīpan, whence English gripe. See also grope, and the related Proto-Germanic *grīpaną. Noun from Middle English grippe, gripe, an amalgam of Old English gripe (“grasp, hold”) (cognate with German Griff) and Old English gripa (“handful”)…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0