Maybe a euphemistic refashioning ofpokker, fromMiddle Low Germanpocke, fromProto-Germanic*pukkaz,*pukkǭ(“pock; swelling”), cognate withEnglishpock,pox,GermanPocke. Alternatively fromkopper, the plural ofkop(“cup”) (from the cups used for blood-letting).
See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.
kopper c
kopper n (definite singularkopperet)
kopper pl (definite pluralkoppene)
kopper m