"S" Word Origins

spiro

Latin

From Latin spīra, "coil, twist," reflecting the twisted, shared-atom shape of these ring structures.

spit

Old English

The noun comes from Old English spitu, "rod for roasting meat," related to Dutch spit and German Spieß. The saliva-related senses come from a separate Old English root meaning to eject fluid from the mouth.

spitball

Origin

From spit + ball.

spite

Latin

A shortened form of Middle English despit, itself from Old French despit and Latin dēspectus, "looking down on" — the same root as "despise" and "despite."

spiteful

Origin

From spite plus the adjective-forming suffix -ful.

spitefulness

Origin

From spiteful + -ness.

spitfire

Origin

A compound of spit and fire, originally used for a fierce, hot-tempered person or thing before being adopted as the name of the WWII fighter plane.

spitter

Origin

From spit (“rod; skewer”) + -er.

spittle

Old English

An altered form of dialect English spattle, from Old English spātl, related to the verb spit.

spitz

German

From German Spitz, "pointed," describing the breed's tapered muzzle.

spitzer

German

From German spitz, "pointed."

Spivey

Middle English

From Middle English Spivi.

splanchnic

Origin

From New Latin splanchnicus, from Ancient Greek σπλαγχνικός (splankhnikós), from σπλάγχνα (splánkhna, “viscera”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”).

splash

Origin

Likely an alteration of the older word plash, with an added initial "s" as seen in words like spatter and spill.

splashboard

Origin

From splash + board.

splashdown

Origin

Deverbal from splash down.

splasher

Origin

From splash + -er.

splat

Middle English

From an earlier sense of splat meaning "to spread flat," related to Middle English splatten, "to stretch out or split."

splatbook

Origin

From splat + book, from the tendency for all the books in the series to be named uniformly, with only the name of the group varying. See splat (“asterisk”), a symbol used as a wildcard in computing.

splatter

Origin · 1780

Of uncertain origin, first recorded in the 1780s — possibly a blend of splash and spatter.

splatterdash

Origin

From splatter + dash. In the "haphazard work" sense, perhaps influenced by slapdash.

splay

Origin

PIE word *dwís The verb is derived from Middle English splaien, splayen (“to display; to spread out, unfurl (a flag, etc.); (cooking) to cut open (a fish) lengthwise and lay it open; (figurative) to appear; to spread”), an aphetic form of Middle English displaien, displayen (“to display”): see display. The adjective and adverb are derived from the verb, or from splayfoot (noun) or splayfooted (adjective). The noun is derived from the verb.

splayfoot

Origin

From splay + foot.

spleen

Latin

From Old French esplein and Latin splēn, ultimately from Greek σπλήν (splḗn), "the spleen" — historically the organ was believed to be the source of bad temper and melancholy, which gave rise to the figurative sense.

splendent

Origin

From Middle English splendaunt, from Old French splendiant, present participle of esplendiier, and esplendent, and Latin splendēns, splendentis, present participle of splendēre (“to shine”).

splendid

Latin

From Latin splendidus, from splendēre, "to shine," plus the adjective suffix -idus.

splendidly

Origin

From splendid plus the adverb suffix -ly.

splendor

Latin

From Latin splendor, from splendēre, "to shine."

splenetic

Origin

The adjective form of spleen, borrowed from Late Latin spleneticus, from Latin splen. Anger was traditionally believed to originate from the fluids of the spleen.

splice

Dutch · 1525

Borrowed around 1525 from Middle Dutch splissen, related to splitten, "to split" — oddly, the word shifted in meaning from "fraying apart" to "joining together" during the rope-making process.

spliff

Origin

From Jamaican Creole, possibly a blend of split and whiff.

splint

Middle English

From Middle English splint, splente, related to Middle Low German splinte and Middle Dutch splint, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to split," referring to a thin piece of wood.

splinter

Middle English

From Middle English splinter, from Middle Dutch splinter, built from splint plus the -er suffix.

split

Proto-Germanic · 1567

Attested from around 1567, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German splitten, "to split," ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root related to "splice" and "splinter."

splooge

Origin

Onomatopoeic, from the ejection of a liquid. Compare with spooge, spoo, spooch. The term is first attested isolatedly in noun sense 2 ("ejection", "ejaculation"), referring to a dripping mop, in a 1919 St. Nicholas issue (see quotations); it is used in Anthony Burgess' 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange to represent the impact of a sudden, forceful, splashing blow; it also appears in a 1966 book as an onomatopoeia for the milking of a cow. The term was popularized in all its senses around late 1980s, as evidenced in two 1991 slang dictionaries.

sploosh

Origin

Onomatopoeic; compare splish, splash, and splosh for typically small, medium, and large objects respectively.

splosh

Origin

Onomatopoeic. Connected with splash and splish; compare also slosh.

splurge

Origin

Possibly a blend of splash and surge, originating in American English and thought to be imitative in origin.

splutter

Origin

The noun is imitative. The verb is derived from the noun.

Spock

Dutch

Anglicized from Dutch Spaak.

spoil

Latin

From Middle English spoilen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, from Latin spoliāre, "to strip, plunder," related to spolium, "plunder."

spoiler

Origin

From spoil plus the agent suffix -er — originally "one who plunders," later extended to "one who ruins" something, including a story's surprise.

spoilsport

Origin

From the phrase "spoil sport," meaning to ruin the amusement.

Spokane

Origin

Likely from the tribe's own name for themselves, possibly meaning "round head," though older sources popularly (and incorrectly) rendered it as "children of the sun."

spoke

Old English

From Old English spāca, describing the rods of a wheel — the same root gave us "spike."

spoken

Origin

The past participle of "speak," formed with the old "-en" ending also seen in "broken" and "woken."

spokesman

Origin

Built from "spoke" (past participle of "speak") plus "man" — literally "one who has spoken for others."

spokesperson

Origin

Formed on the same pattern as "spokesman," with the gender-neutral "-person" swapped in.