sprawl

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sper-“to strew”
2. Old English · inherited fromspreawlian“move convulsively”
3. Middle English · inherited fromspraulen
4. English todaysprawl

From Middle English spraulen, from Old English spreawlian (“move convulsively”), ultimately through a Proto-Germanic form cognate with *spreutaną (“to sprout”) from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to strew”). Compare North Frisian spraweli, Norwegian sprala, Swedish sprala.

Words from the same roots