withspeak

The story

1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*wiþisprekan
2. Old English · derived fromwiþsprecan“to contradict, gainsay, revile”
3. Middle English · borrowed fromwithspeken“to speak against, contradict”
4. English todaywithspeak

A revival of Middle English withspeken (“to speak against, contradict”), from Old English wiþsprecan (“to contradict, gainsay, revile”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþisprekan, equivalent to with- + speak. Cognate with Old Frisian withspreka (“to disagree”), Saterland Frisian wierspreeke (“to contradict”), West Frisian wjersprekke (“to contradict”), Dutch weerspreken (“to contradict”), German widersprechen (“to contradict, gainsay”).