*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of speel

From Early Scots speill (“to climb”), of obscure origin. From or akin to Early Scots spelare (“acrobat, tumbler”). Probably from Middle Dutch spelen (“to play, walk a tight rope, do gymnastic tricks, juggle, perform as a

5 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 5 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To climb.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Early Scots speill (“to climb”), of obscure origin. From or akin to Early Scots spelare (“acrobat, tumbler”). Probably from Middle Dutch spelen (“to play, walk a tight rope, do gymnastic tricks, juggle, perform as an actor or clown”), see spiel. Alternately, representing a continuation of Middle English spilen, from Old English spilian (“to play”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Derivation mentionspelendum · to play, walk a tight rope, do gymnastic tricks, juggle, perform as an actor or clown
  • Inherited-form mentionspilenenm
  • Inherited-form mentionspilianang · to play
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm-esc",
        "3": "speill",
        "t": "to climb"
      },
      "expansion": "Early Scots speill (“to climb”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm-esc",
        "3": "spelare",
        "t": "acrobat, tumbler"
      },
      "expansion": "Early Scots spelare (“acrobat, tumbler”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dum",
        "3": "spelen",
        "t": "to play, walk a tight rope, do gymnastic tricks, juggle, perform as an actor or clown"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch spelen (“to play, walk a tight rope, do gymnastic tricks, juggle, perform as an actor or clown”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spilen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spilen"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "spilian",
        "t": "to play"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English spilian (“to play”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "speill",
      "speill#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "spelare",
      "spelare#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "spelen",
      "spelen#Middle_Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "spiel",
      "spiel#English"
    ],
    [
      "spilen",
      "spilen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "spilian",
      "spilian#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To climb."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Northern-English",
        "Scottish",
        "dialectal"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To talk at length, to spiel.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From English dialectal speel (“talk; lingo; patter”), short for bonspiel. Related to spiel.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "speel",
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    ],
    [
      "bonspiel",
      "bonspiel#English"
    ],
    [
      "spiel",
      "spiel#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
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Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗
noun

A story; a spiel.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Probably from Afrikaans speel. Compare Middle English spel (“a story; tale; narrative”). Doublet of spell and shpiel.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Derivation mentionspeelaf
  • Cognate mentionspelenm · a story; tale; narrative
  • Doublet mentionspellen
  • Doublet mentionshpielen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "3": "speel"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans speel"
    },
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        "1": "enm",
        "2": "spel",
        "t": "a story; tale; narrative"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spel (“a story; tale; narrative”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spell",
        "3": "shpiel"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of spell and shpiel"
    }
  ],
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      "speel#Afrikaans"
    ],
    [
      "spel",
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    ],
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      "spell#English"
    ],
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      "shpiel#English"
    ]
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Source etymology 5

Original entry ↗
noun

A splinter; a strip of wood or metal.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Possibly related to spile.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A splinter; a strip of wood or metal."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Cumbria"
      ],
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Source etymology 6

Original entry ↗
verb

To lake, play, sport, take amusement.

noun

A game.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Perhaps continuing Middle English spilen (“to revel, play”), from Old English spilian (“to revel, play”), from Proto-West Germanic *spilōn. Cognate with Dutch spelen (“to play”), German spielen (“to play”), Luxembourgish spillen (“to play”), Icelandic spila (“to play”), Faroese spæla (“to play”), Swedish spela (“to play”), Danish spille (“to play”), Norwegian spille (“to play”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spilen",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to revel, play"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spilen (“to revel, play”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "spilian",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to revel, play"
      },
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    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*spilōn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *spilōn"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "spelen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch spelen (“to play”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "spielen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
      "expansion": "German spielen (“to play”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lb",
        "2": "spillen",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
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    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "spila",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic spila (“to play”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "spæla",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
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    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "spela",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish spela (“to play”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "spille",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish spille (“to play”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "spille",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to play"
      },
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    }
  ],
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    [
      "spilen",
      "spilen#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "spilian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/spilōn"
    ],
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      "spelen",
      "spelen#Dutch"
    ],
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      "spielen",
      "spielen#German"
    ],
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      "spillen",
      "spillen#Luxembourgish"
    ],
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      "spila",
      "spila#Icelandic"
    ],
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      "spæla",
      "spæla#Faroese"
    ],
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      "spela",
      "spela#Swedish"
    ],
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      "spille",
      "spille#Danish"
    ],
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      "spille",
      "spille#Norwegian"
    ]
  ],
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        "To lake, play, sport, take amusement."
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for speel →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c3BlZWw