speed

speed · noun, interjection¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*speh₁-“to prosper, turn out well”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*spōaną“to prosper, succeed, be happy”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*spōan
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*spōdi“prosperity, success”
5. Old English · inherited fromspēd“success”
6. Middle English · inherited fromsped“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”
7. English todayspeed

From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”). Related also to Old English spōwan (“to be successful, succeed”), Albanian shpejt (“to speed, to hurry”) and Russian спеши́ть (spešítʹ, “to hurry”), Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”), spērō (“hope”, verb), perhaps also to Ancient Greek σπεύδω (speúdō, “to urge on, hasten, press on”).

speed · verb²

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*spōdijan“to succeed”
2. Old English · inherited fromspēdan“to speed, prosper, succeed, have success”
3. Middle English · inherited fromspeden
4. English todayspeed

From Middle English speden, from Old English spēdan (“to speed, prosper, succeed, have success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdijan (“to succeed”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“to meet with success, assist, promote, accomplish, speed”), Dutch spoeden (“to hurry, rush”), Low German spoden, spöden (“to hasten, speed”), German sputen, spuden (“to speed”).

Speed · proper noun³

1. Middle English · inherited fromsped“good fortune”
2. English todaySpeed

* As an English surname, from Middle English sped (“good fortune”, literally “assistance, aid”). Also from the noun speed. * As an Irish surname, translated from Ó Fuada, from fuad (“haste, hurriedness”). See Foody. * As a German and Jewish surname, Americanized and translated from Schnell. * Most place names seem to taken from the surname.

Words from the same roots