spreath

S1P3R1E1A1T1H4
/spɹiːθ/

noun

A raid in order to steal cattle.

OriginScottish Gaelic sprèidh ← Middle Irish spréid ← Latin praeda →
Scrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounspreath (countable and uncountable, plural spreaths)

plural spreaths

  1. ScotlandcountableobsoleteuncountableA raid in order to steal cattle.

    It was then as much the scene of continual spreaths, liftings, reavings, and herriments, as the Border country itself.

    1836, Tait's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 3, page 426

Origin

  1. Latinpraeda“plunder, spoils; profit; prey”
  2. Middle Irishspréid“cattle, wealth”
  3. Scottish Gaelicsprèidh
  4. Englishspreath

From Scots, from Scottish Gaelic sprèidh, from Middle Irish spréid (“cattle, wealth”), from Latin praeda (“plunder, spoils; profit; prey”), thus a doublet of prey. Per one hypothesis, also a doublet of spree.

More words from Scottish Gaelic, Middle Irish, Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

spreath. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spreath

MLA

“spreath.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spreath. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spreath,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spreath.

Source: spreath on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.