*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of spice

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Latin speciō Proto-Indo-European *-yḗh₂s Proto-Italic *-jēs Latin -iēs Late Latin speciēs Old French

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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 ↗
noun

Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food. · The quality of being spicy. · Appeal, interest; an attribute that makes something appealing, interesting, or engaging. · A psychoactive neocannabinoid.

verb

To add spice or spices to; season. · To spice up.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Latin speciō Proto-Indo-European *-yḗh₂s Proto-Italic *-jēs Latin -iēs Late Latin speciēs Old French espicebor. Anglo-Norman specebor. Middle English spice English spice Inherited from Middle English spice, from Old French espice (modern épice), from Late Latin speciēs (“spice, good, ware”), from Latin speciēs (“kind, sort”). Doublet of species.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

This page abbreviates 6 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.

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      },
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    },
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      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English spice"
    },
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      },
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    },
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      "args": {
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        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "speciēs",
        "4": "",
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      },
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    },
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      },
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    },
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      },
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    },
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    }
  ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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      "*spekjō",
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    ],
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      "speciō",
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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  "descendants": [],
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        "Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food.",
        "The quality of being spicy.",
        "Appeal, interest; an attribute that makes something appealing, interesting, or engaging.",
        "A psychoactive neocannabinoid."
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        "To add spice or spices to; season.",
        "To spice up."
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

plural of spouse

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

Formed by analogy with lice and mice as the plurals of louse and mouse. First attested use Christopher Morley in “Morley's Magnum” (1935). Made popular by Robert A. Heinlein in Time Enough for Love (1973).

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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    ],
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      "mouse",
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    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
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  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "plural of spouse"
      ],
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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 spice →

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
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Import run
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Permanent entry ID
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