From Proto-Baltic *kurp- (+ feminine ending -e), from the zero grade *kr̥p- of Proto-Indo-European *kerp- (“piece of leather; shoe”), from the stem *ker- (“to cut”) (whence also cirpt (“to shear, to clip”), q.v.) with an extra p. Semantic evolution: “to cut” > “a cut piece of leather” > “shoe (made of leather)” > “shoe.” Cognates include Lithuanian kùrpė (“shoe, half-boot, slipper; foot (measure of length)”), Old Prussian kurpe (“shoe”), Russian dialectal корпа́ть (korpátʹ, “to mend clothes”), Bulgarian кърпа (kǎrpa, “rag, cloth, patch”), Serbo-Croatian kȑpa (“patch, piece of cloth”), kȑplje (“old shoes, skis”), Old Irish cairem (“cobbler”) (< *karɸyamos), Ancient Greek καρβάτινος (karbátinos, “made of leather”), καρβάτιναι (karbátinai, “rawhide shoes”), καρπάτινον (karpátinon, “simple shoe made of one piece of leather”).