"S" Word Origins

spaceport

Origin

A modern coinage combining "space" with "port," modeled on "airport" and "seaport."

spaceship

Origin

A straightforward compound of "space" and "ship."

spacious

Latin

From Old French spacios, from Latin spatiosus, "roomy" — built on the same root as "space."

spack

Origin

Possibly a contraction of spastic (as a term of abuse).

spacky

Origin

From spack + -y, ultimately from spastic.

spade

Old English

From Old English spada, going back to a Proto-Germanic root also seen in the fencing term "spatha."

spadeful

Origin

From spade + -ful.

spaghetti

Italian

From Italian spaghetti, the plural of spaghetto ("a strand of spaghetti"), from spago ("string, twine").

Spain

Latin

From Middle English Spayne, from Anglo-Norman Espayne, ultimately from Latin Hispania.

spake

Origin

An archaic past tense of "speak," common in older English and biblical translations, now surviving mainly in deliberately old-fashioned or poetic writing.

spall

Origin

From Middle English spalle (“a chip”) (first documented in 1440), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from the Middle English verb spald (“to split”) (c.1400), from Middle Low German spalden, cognate with Old High German spaltan (“to split”).

spam

Origin · 1970

Originally a trademarked canned meat brand; the internet sense comes from a 1970s Monty Python sketch where "Spam" is chanted repeatedly and annoyingly, which stuck as slang for unwanted repetitive messages online.

span

Old English

From Old English spann, going back to a Germanic root meaning "to stretch."

spandex

Origin

Coined as a near-anagram of the word "expands," reflecting the fabric's stretchiness.

spanger

Origin

From spange + -er (“person who does”), root blend of spare + change, from stereotyped phrase “spare change?”, “spare any change?”.

spangler

Origin

Formed from the verb spangle plus the agent suffix -er.

Spaniard

Old French

From Old French Espaignard, itself built on Espaigne ("Spain") plus the suffix -ard.

spaniel

Old French

From Old French espaigneul, meaning roughly "Spanish (dog)," since the breed was associated with Spain.

Spanish

Middle English

From Middle English Spainish, built from "Spain" plus the suffix "-ish."

spank

Origin

Origin uncertain, likely imitative of the slapping sound itself.

spanker

Origin

From spank + -er.

spanking

Origin

From spank (“to punish by swatting”) + -ing (participial suffix) and -ing (gerundial suffix).

spanky

Origin

From "spank" plus the suffix "-y," echoing the phrase "brand spanking new."

spanner

Origin

From "span" plus the agent suffix "-er" — literally, a thing that spans or grips something.

spar

Middle English

From Middle English sparre, meaning "beam" or "rafter," related to a Germanic word for a stake or pole.

spare

Old English

From Old English spær, meaning "sparing" or "scant," from a Germanic root related to frugality.

spareful

Origin

From spare + -ful?

sparge

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French espargier, from Latin spargō (whence English sparse), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pregʰ- (“to scatter, to jerk”).

spark

Old English

From Old English spearca, from a Germanic root meaning "to scatter" or "to sprinkle," describing the way sparks fly outward.

sparkle

Middle English

From Middle English sparkle, built from "spark" plus a diminutive ending, literally "a little spark."

sparkler

Origin

From "sparkle" plus the agent suffix "-er."

sparkling

Origin

By surface analysis, sparkle + -ing.

Sparky

Origin

From "spark" plus the adjective suffix "-y," suggesting liveliness like an electrical spark.

sparrow

Old English

From Old English spearwa, from a Proto-Germanic root shared with other words for small chirping birds.

sparse

Latin

Borrowed from Latin sparsus, "scattered."

Sparta

Latin

From Latin Sparta, from Greek Spartā, the ancient city's own name.

Spartacus

Latin

From Latin Spartacus, itself a borrowing of a Thracian name.

spartan

Ancient Greek

From the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, whose citizens were famous for austere living and rigorous military discipline.

spary

Origin

From spare + -y.

spasm

Greek

From Greek spasmos, "convulsion," from spao, "to pull or draw out" — the muscle is being yanked tight involuntarily.

spasmodic

Origin

From New Latin spasmōdicus, from Ancient Greek σπασμώδης (spasmṓdēs, “spasmodic”), from σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm”).

spastic

Greek

From Greek spastikos, "drawing in" or "pulling tight," the same root that gives us spasm.

spat

Origin

Origin uncertain; possibly linked to "spit," though the exact history is unclear.

spatchcock

Origin

The noun is probably derived from one of the following: * A variant of spitchcock (“eel split lengthwise and broiled”). from Middle English spiche-coke, The further etymology is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested: ** From Middle English *speche, *spiche (“to split”) + cock, coken (“to allow (something) to cook; to cook”). ** From spik (“animal fat, especially lard”), spik, spike (“large nail; pointed stud”), or spit, spite (“rod for cooking meat, spit; pointed object”); + cok (“male of the common domestic fowl, cock, rooster”). * From Irish spot (“spot”) or spochta (the past participle of spoch (“to cut, clip”)) + coc (“male of the common domestic fowl, cock, rooster”). A derivation from (di)spatch (“to dispose of speedily; to make a speedy end of”) + cock is now thought to be unlikely. In a few texts from the 1400s–1700s the form smatchcock is found, possibly an error or an alteration under the influence of smatch (“a taste, a flavor”). The verb is derived from the noun.

spate

Middle English

From Middle English and Scots spate, "a flood," likely related to "spatter" and ultimately to the idea of water spitting or splashing forth.

spathic

Origin

From Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “any broad blade of metal or wood”). Cognates include spatula.

spatial

Latin

From Latin spatium, "space," plus the adjective ending -al.

spats

Origin

A shortened form of "spatterdashes," older protective leg coverings worn to keep mud and rain off the ankles.