Etymology

spool

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Today it means: A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle. Full definition →

Middle English spole ← Old Northern French spole ← Middle Dutch spoele
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spool · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)pel-“to cleave, split”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*spōlǭ“spool”
  3. Old Dutch · derived from*spōla
  4. Middle Dutch · derived fromspoele
  5. Old Northern French · derived fromspole
  6. Middle English · inherited fromspole
  7. English todayspool

From Middle English spole (possibly via Old Northern French spole, espole), from Middle Dutch spoele, from Old Dutch *spōla, *spuola, from Proto-Germanic *spōlǭ (“spool”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to cleave, split”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Spoule (“spool”), Dutch spoel (“spool”), German Spule (“spool”), Swedish spole (“spool”), Icelandic spóla (“spool; reel”). The aviation usage is based on the visual similarity of one of the spools of a turbine engine to a spool used for thread (especially in cross-section). See also spill.

spool · noun2

From blend of spa + pool.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*(s)pel- all →

spotspellspillsplotspeld

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.