It looks like one of those “vague, unsure” ones, it’s perhaps too old a word, and with too many vague, possible sources.
Some bits of dictionaries suggest various etymologies - it likely drifted from words in Gaelic, Scots, Arabic and French, like “jupe”, “jump”, “juppe” “jubbe” and so on, which tended to mean things like “smock”, “jacket” or whatever. It’s been around in English for various clothing types for a few hundred years, and referred specifically to the woollen pullover thing from the picture above for 100-150 years.
Well you sweat when jumping for one thing.
This is true - especially if you were wearing a thick woolly jumper whilst doing it.
The lack of logical explanations for why it’s called a jumper are deafening.
It looks like one of those “vague, unsure” ones, it’s perhaps too old a word, and with too many vague, possible sources.
Some bits of dictionaries suggest various etymologies - it likely drifted from words in Gaelic, Scots, Arabic and French, like “jupe”, “jump”, “juppe” “jubbe” and so on, which tended to mean things like “smock”, “jacket” or whatever. It’s been around in English for various clothing types for a few hundred years, and referred specifically to the woollen pullover thing from the picture above for 100-150 years.
It has no relation at all to jump as in “leap”.
Also, and worthy of note, it rhymes with “bumper”, which is important if you want to say something like:
“Dancing at the disco, bumper to bumper. Wait a minute! Where’s me jumper?” (Youtube link)