the verb 'strip' entered middle english from old english 'strīepan', meaning to plunder or to strip off. this old english term is related to middle dutch 'stroopen' and old high german 'stroufen', all carrying the sense of to strip, plunder, or skin. the core semantic thread from its proto-germanic ancestor involves the forceful removal of a layer or covering, a concept that persists in its modern meanings of undressing or denuding. the noun form, denoting a long, narrow piece, developed later in the 15th century, likely derived from the verb by conceptualizing the result of the stripping action—a piece that has been cut or torn away from a larger whole.

the word 'strip' is a simplex word of germanic origin. it is not productively formed from smaller, independent morphemes in modern english.