Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To find out or observe (someone or something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking; to catch sight of; to see; to spot. · To see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly. · To observe (someone or something) as a spy; also, to examine or observe (someone or something) carefully; or to look out or watch for. · To become aware of (a fact, information, etc.).
From Middle English aspien, espien (“to make covert observations of (a person or place) with hostile intent, to spy on; to seek to discover by spying; to act as a spy; to catch sight of, see; to look over, observe; to wait in ambush, to ambush; to plot against; to look for, seek to find; to inquire or look into, investigate; to discover, find”) [and other forms], from Old French espier (“to watch”) (modern French épier (“to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for”)), from Vulgar Latin *spiāre, from Frankish *spehōn (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, observe, see”). Doublet of spy. Cognates * Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to examine; to look at; to consider, think”) * Italian spiare * Latin speciō (“to look at, observe, watch”) * Old High German spehōn (modern German spähen) * Occitan espiar * Spanish espiar
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*speḱ-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionaspienenm
- Derivation mentionespierfro · to watch
- Cognate mentionépierfr · to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for
- Derivation mention*spehōnągem-pro · to look, peer; to spy
- Derivation mention*speḱ-ine-pro · to look, observe, see
- Doublet mentionspyen
- Cognate mentionσκέπτομαιgrc · to examine; to look at; to consider, think
- Cognate mentionspiareit
- Cognate mentionspeciōla · to look at, observe, watch
- Cognate mentionspehōngoh
- Cognate mentionspähende
- Cognate mentionespiaroc
- Cognate mentionespiares
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*speḱ-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "aspien"
},
"expansion": "Middle English aspien"
},
{
"name": "nb...",
"args": {
"1": "espie, espy, espye",
"otherforms": "1"
},
"expansion": "[and other forms]"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "espier",
"t": "to watch"
},
"expansion": "Old French espier (“to watch”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "épier",
"t": "to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for"
},
"expansion": "French épier (“to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la-vul",
"3": "*spiāre"
},
"expansion": "Vulgar Latin *spiāre"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "frk",
"3": "*spehōn",
"t": "to look, peer; to spy"
},
"expansion": "Frankish *spehōn (“to look, peer; to spy”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*spehōną",
"t": "to look, peer; to spy"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to look, peer; to spy”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*speḱ-",
"t": "to look, observe, see"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, observe, see”)"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "spy"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of spy"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "σκέπτομαι",
"t": "to examine; to look at; to consider, think"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to examine; to look at; to consider, think”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "it",
"2": "spiare"
},
"expansion": "Italian spiare"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "speciō",
"t": "to look at, observe, watch"
},
"expansion": "Latin speciō (“to look at, observe, watch”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "spehōn"
},
"expansion": "Old High German spehōn"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "spähen"
},
"expansion": "German spähen"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "oc",
"2": "espiar"
},
"expansion": "Occitan espiar"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "es",
"2": "espiar"
},
"expansion": "Spanish espiar"
}
],
"links": [
[
"aspien",
"aspien#Middle_English"
],
[
"espien",
"espien#Middle_English"
],
[
"espier",
"espier#Old_French"
],
[
"épier",
"épier#French"
],
[
"*spiāre",
"Reconstruction:Latin/spiare"
],
[
"*spehōn",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/spehōn"
],
[
"*spehōną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/spehōną"
],
[
"*speḱ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/speḱ-"
],
[
"spy",
"spy#English"
],
[
"σκέπτομαι",
"σκέπτομαι#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"spiare",
"spiare#Italian"
],
[
"speciō",
"specio#Latin"
],
[
"spehōn",
"spehon#Old_High_German"
],
[
"spähen",
"spähen#German"
],
[
"espiar",
"espiar#Occitan"
],
[
"espiar",
"espiar#Spanish"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To find out or observe (someone or something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking; to catch sight of; to see; to spot.",
"To see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly.",
"To observe (someone or something) as a spy; also, to examine or observe (someone or something) carefully; or to look out or watch for.",
"To become aware of (a fact, information, etc.)."
],
"tags": [
"transitive",
"obsolete"
],
"recordId": "ae6c2069ac7e2f7fa54bee54e0550a317387c56afa5c54125ea1172c43f5cc8d",
"rawRecordSha256": "82fe14a251779f1668e86a57787a1b1d065a950339935128042f504ca001484f",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 236269
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 1,
"glosses": 0
}
}