Etymology

spay

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Today it means: To destroy or remove the ovaries or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy. Full definition →

Middle English spayen ← Anglo-Norman espeier ← Old French espeer
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spay · verb, noun1

  1. Old French · derived fromespeer“to cut with a sword”
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromespeier
  3. Middle English · inherited fromspayen
  4. English todayspay

From Middle English spayen, spaien, from the Anglo-Norman espeier, equivalent to the Old French espeer (“to cut with a sword”), from espee (“sword”), whence the Modern French épée.

spay · noun2

See spayard.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.