Etymology

spicy

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Today it means: Of, pertaining to, or containing spice. Full definition →

English spic(e) ← Middle English spice ← Anglo-Norman spece
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*speḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*spéḱyeti
  3. Proto-Italic*spekjō
  4. Latinspeciō
  5. Late Latinspeciēs
  6. Old Frenchespice
  7. Anglo-Normanspece
  8. Middle Englishspice
  9. Englishspic(e)
  10. English todayspicy

From spic(e) + -y. First attested in the 16th century.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.