spoon

spoon · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)peH-“chip, shaving, log, length of wood”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*spēnuz“chip, flake, shaving”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*spānu
4. Old English · inherited fromspōn“sliver, chip of wood, shaving”
5. Middle English · inherited fromspoon
6. English todayspoon

From Middle English spoon, spoune, spone, spon (“spoon, chip of wood”), from Old English spōn (“sliver, chip of wood, shaving”), from Proto-West Germanic *spānu, from Proto-Germanic *spēnuz (“chip, flake, shaving”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peH- (“chip, shaving, log, length of wood”). Cognate with Scots spun, spon (“spoon, shingle”), West Frisian spoen (“chip”), Dutch spaan (“chip, flinders”), German Span (“chip, flake, shaving”), Swedish spån (“chip, flake”), Norwegian Nynorsk spon (“chip, spoon”), Faroese spónur (“wood chip; spoon”), Ancient Greek σφήν (sphḗn, “wedge”)(though the connection to the Greek is likely impossible by modern reconstructions of PIE). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cuculer, coclear (“spoon”), from Old English cuculer, cuceler, cucler, borrowed from Latin cochlear (“spoon”). The "metaphoric unit of personal energy" sense was coined by writer and disability advocate Christine Miserandino in 2003 (see spoon theory).

spoon · verb²

Uncertain. Compare spoom.

Words from the same roots