spit

spit · noun, verb¹

1. Middle English · inherited fromspiten“to put on a spit; to impale”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*speyd-
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*spitō“rod; skewer; spike”
4. Old English · inherited fromspitu“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”
5. Middle English · inherited fromspit
6. English todayspit

The noun is from Middle English spit, spite, spete, spette, spyte, spytte (“rod on which meat is cooked; rod used as a torture instrument; short spear; point of a spear; spine in the fin of a fish; pointed object; dagger symbol; land projecting into the sea”), from Old English spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”), from Proto-Germanic *spitō (“rod; skewer; spike”), *spituz (“rod on which meat is cooked; stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *speyd-, *spey- (“sharp; sharp stick”). The English word is cognate with Dutch spit, Low German Spitt (“pike, spear; spike; skewer; spit”), Danish spid, Swedish spett (“skewer; spit; type of crowbar”). The verb is derived from the noun, or from Middle English spiten (“to put on a spit; to impale”), from spit, spite: see above. The English verb is cognate with Middle Dutch speten, spitten (modern Dutch speten), Middle Low German speten (Low German spitten, modern German spießen (“to skewer, to spear”), spissen (now dialectal)) and Danish spidde.

spit · verb, noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*sp(y)ēw
2. Old English · inherited fromspittan
3. Middle English · inherited fromspit
4. Old English · inherited fromspǣtan“to spit; to squirt”
5. Middle English · inherited fromspē̆ten
6. English todayspit

The verb is from Middle English spē̆ten, spete (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spǣtan (“to spit; to squirt”); or from Middle English spit, spitte, spitten (“to spit (blood, phlegm, saliva, venom, etc.); of a fire: to emit sparks”), from Old English spittan, spyttan (“to spit”), both from Proto-Germanic, from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw, *spyū, ultimately imitative; compare Middle English spitelen (“to spit out, expectorate”) and English spew. The English word is cognate with Danish spytte (“to spit”), North Frisian spütte, Norwegian spytte (“to spit”), Swedish spotta (“to spit”), Old Norse spýta (Faroese spýta (“to spit”), Icelandic spýta (“to spit”)). The noun is derived from the verb; compare Danish spyt (“spit”), Middle English spit, spytte (“saliva, spittle, sputum”), spet (“saliva, spittle”), spē̆tel (“saliva, spittle”), North Frisian spiit.

spit · noun, verb³

1. Old English · inherited fromspittan“to dig with a spade”
2. Middle English · inherited fromspitten“to dig”
3. Middle Low German · derived fromspêdt
4. Middle Dutch · derived fromspeet
5. English todayspit

The noun is from Middle Dutch speet, spit, Middle Low German spêdt, spit (Low German spit); the word is cognate with Dutch spit, North Frisian spatt, spet, West Frisian spit. The verb is from Middle English spitten (“to dig”), from Old English spittan (“to dig with a spade”), possibly from spitu (“rod on which meat is cooked; spit”); see further at etymology 1. The English word is cognate with Middle Dutch spetten, spitten (modern Dutch spitten), Middle Low German speten, spitten (Low German spitten), North Frisian spat, West Frisian spitte.

Words from the same roots