spale

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)pala-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*speldą“that which is split, splinter, board”
3. Old English · derived fromspeld“ember, flake, torch, splinter, thin piece of wood used as a torch”
4. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*spaluz“pole, rod, thin bar, lath”
5. Old Norse · derived fromspǫlr“plank, rail, bar, short piece of wood”
6. Old English · inherited from*spalu“flat bar, flake, chip”
7. Middle English · inherited fromspale“splinter”
8. English todayspale

From Middle English spale (“splinter”), perhaps partly from Old English *spalu (“flat bar, flake, chip”) or Old Norse spǫlr (“plank, rail, bar, short piece of wood”), both from Proto-Germanic *spaluz (“pole, rod, thin bar, lath”); and partly as an alteration of Old English speld (“ember, flake, torch, splinter, thin piece of wood used as a torch”), from Proto-Germanic *speldą (“that which is split, splinter, board”); both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pala-, *(s)pel- (“to split in two, split in half”). Cognate with Middle High German spale ("rung of a ladder"; > dialectal German Spale (“a wooden split, wedge”)), dialectal Swedish spalu (“splinter”), dialectal Norwegian spel, spela, spila (“a splinter”), Icelandic spölur (“bit, short piece”). See also split.

Words from the same roots