Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗To act as a spy. · To spot; to catch sight of; to espy. · To search narrowly; to scrutinize. · To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.
From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos). Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).
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 mentionspienenm
- Derivation mentionespierfro
- Derivation mention*spehōnągem-pro
- Derivation mention*speḱ-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionspähende
- Cognate mentionspiedennl
- Non-cognate comparisonsċēawereang
- Non-cognate comparisonsċēawianang
- Cognate mentionspeculātorla
- Cognate mentionκατάσκοποςgrc
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": "spien"
},
"expansion": "Middle English spien"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "espier",
"4": "",
"5": "to spy"
},
"expansion": "Old French espier (“to spy”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
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"2": "frk",
"3": "*spehōn",
"4": "",
"5": "to spy"
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},
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"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "spähen",
"3": "",
"4": "to spy"
},
"expansion": "German spähen (“to spy”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "spieden",
"3": "",
"4": "to spy"
},
"expansion": "Dutch spieden (“to spy”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
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"2": "sċēawere",
"lit": "watcher"
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"expansion": "Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
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"2": "sċēawian"
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"expansion": "Old English sċēawian"
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{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "speculātor"
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"expansion": "Latin speculātor"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "κατάσκοπος"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos)"
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{
"name": "m+",
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"1": "ru",
"2": "согляда́тай"
},
"expansion": "Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"spien",
"spien#Middle_English"
],
[
"espien",
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[
"espier",
"espier#Old_French"
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[
"*spehōn",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/spehōn"
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[
"*spehōną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/spehōną"
],
[
"*speḱ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/speḱ-"
],
[
"spähen",
"spähen#German"
],
[
"spieden",
"spieden#Dutch"
],
[
"sċēawere",
"sceawere#Old_English"
],
[
"sċēawian",
"sceawian#Old_English"
],
[
"show",
"show#English"
],
[
"speculātor",
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],
[
"κατάσκοπος",
"κατάσκοπος#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"согляда́тай",
"соглядатай#Russian"
],
[
"гляде́ть",
"глядеть#Russian"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"word": "スパイ",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "supai"
},
{
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"word": "스파이",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "seupai"
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To act as a spy.",
"To spot; to catch sight of; to espy.",
"To search narrowly; to scrutinize.",
"To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive",
"transitive"
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