The word 'tripper' is a transparent English compound built upon the verb 'trip'. The verb's original sense, 'to step lightly or skip', evolved from Germanic roots into the dual meanings of 'to stumble' and 'to make a short journey'. The agent suffix '-er' is one of the most productive in English, directly attaching to verbs to denote one who performs that action. Consequently, a 'tripper' logically became a person who takes a trip (a tourist) or one who experiences a stumble, a sense later extended metaphorically to the disorienting effects of a psychedelic drug. The mechanical sense follows the same pattern, referring to a device that causes a circuit or mechanism to 'trip' or switch.

Structure: trip (to stumble, to journey) + er (agent suffix) - trip: From Middle English 'trippen' (to step lightly, to stumble), of Old French origin, ultimately from a Germanic base. Functions as the core verb root. - er: A native English agent noun suffix, from Old English '-ere', of Germanic origin. Indicates a person or thing that performs the action of the verb.