英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Spad (n.)[Spad 词源字典]: French biplane fighter of World War I, 1917, from French spad, from acronym of Societé pour Aviation et ses Dérivés.[Spad etymology, Spad origin, 英语词源]
spade (n.1): "tool for digging," Old English spadu "spade," from Proto-Germanic *spadan (cognates: Old Frisian spada "a spade," Middle Dutch spade "a sword," Old Saxon spado, Middle Low German spade, German Spaten), from PIE *spe-dh-, from root *spe- (2) "long, flat piece of wood" (cognates: Greek spathe "wooden blade, paddle," Old English spon "chip of wood, splinter," Old Norse spann "shingle, chip;" see spoon (n.)).

"A spade differs from a two-handed shovel chiefly in the form and thickness of the blade" [Century Dictionary]. To call a spade a spade "use blunt language, call things by right names" (1540s) translates a Greek proverb (known to Lucian), ten skaphen skaphen legein "to call a bowl a bowl," but Erasmus mistook Greek skaphe "trough, bowl" for a derivative of the stem of skaptein "to dig," and the mistake has stuck [see OED].
spade (n.2): black figure on playing cards," 1590s, probably from Italian spade, plural of spada "the ace of spades," literally "sword, spade," from Latin spatha "broad, flat weapon or tool," from Greek spathe "broad blade" (see spade (n.1)). Phrase in spades "in abundance" first recorded 1929 (Damon Runyon), probably from bridge, where spades are the highest-ranking suit.
The invitations to the musicale came sliding in by pairs and threes and spade flushes. [O.Henry, "Cabbages & Kings," 1904]
Derogatory meaning "black person" is 1928, from the color of the playing card symbol.
spado (n.): "castrated person," early 15c., from Latin spado, from Greek spadix, related to spadon "eunuch," span "to draw, tear away" (see spay).
spae (v.): c. 1300, "foretell, devine, predict from signs," Scottish, from Old Norse spa, cognate with Danish spaa "prophesy;" related to Old Saxon spahi, Old High German spahi "wise, skillful," Old High German spehon "to spy" (see spy (v.)). Related: Spae-book "book containing directions for telling fortunes;" spaeman; spaewife.
spaghetti (n.): 1849 (as sparghetti, in Eliza Acton's "Modern Cookery"), from Italian spaghetti, plural of spaghetto "string, twine," diminutive of spago "cord," of uncertain origin. Spaghetti Western (one filmed in Italy) first attested 1969. Spaghetti strap is from 1972.
Spain: c. 1200, from Anglo-French Espayne, from Late Latin Spania, from Latin Hispania (see Spaniard). The usual Old English form was Ispania.
spake: archaic or poetic past tense of speak.
spald (v.): c. 1400, "to splinter, chip" (transitive; spalding-knife is from mid-14c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch spalden, cognate with Middle Low German spalden, Old High German spaltan, German spalten "to split" (see spill (v.)). The later form of the verb is spall (1758), from or by influence of the noun. Related: Spalled; spalling.
spall (n.): "chip of stone," mid-15c., from Middle English verb spald "to split open."
spam (n.): proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937; probably a conflation of spiced ham. Soon extended to other kinds of canned meat.

In the sense of "Internet junk mail" it was coined by Usenet users after March 31, 1993, when Usenet administrator Richard Depew inadvertently posted the same message 200 times to a discussion group. The term had been used in online text games, and ultimately it is from a 1970 sketch on the British TV show "Monty Python's Flying Circus" wherein a reading of a restaurant's menu devolves into endless repetitions of "spam."
span (n.1): "distance between two objects," from Old English span "distance between the thumb and little finger of an extended hand" (as a measure of length, roughly nine inches), probably related to Middle Dutch spannen "to join, fasten" (see span (v.)).

The Germanic word was borrowed into Medieval Latin as spannus, hence Italian spanna, Old French espan "hand's width, span as a unit of measure," French empan. As a measure of volume (early 14c.), "what can be held in two cupped hands." Meaning "length of time" first attested 1590s; that of "space between abutments of an arch, etc." is from 1725. Meaning "maximum lateral dimension of an aircraft" is first recorded 1909.
span (v.): Old English spannan "to join, link, clasp, fasten, bind, connect; stretch, span," from Proto-Germanic *spannan (cognates: Old Norse spenna, Old Frisian spanna, Middle Dutch spannen, Dutch spannan "stretch, bend, hoist, hitch," Old High German spannan, German spannen "to join, fasten, extend, connect"), from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin" (cognates: Latin pendere "to hang, to cause to hang," pondus "weight" (perhaps the notion is the weight of a thing measured by how much it stretches a cord), pensare "to weigh, consider;" Greek ponos "toil," ponein "to toil;" Lithuanian spendziu "lay a snare;" Old Church Slavonic peti "stretch, strain," pato "fetter," pina "I span;" Old English spinnan "to spin;" for other cognates, see spin (v.)).

The meaning "to encircle with the hand(s)" is from 1781; in the sense of "to form an arch over (something)" it is first recorded 1630s. Related: Spanned; spanning.
span (n.2): "two animals driven together," 1769, American English, from Dutch span, from spannen "to stretch or yoke," from Middle Dutch spannan, cognate with Old English spannan "to join" (see span (v.)). Also used in South African English.
spanandry (n.): "extreme scarcity of males in a population," 1924, from French spananderie (1913), from Greek spanis "scarcity" + aner "man."
Spandex (n.): synthetic fiber, 1959, American English, proprietary name, an arbitrary formation from expand + commercial suffix -ex.
spandrel (n.): "triangular space between the outer curve of an arch and the molding enclosing it," late 15c., apparently a diminutive of Anglo-French spaundre (late 14c.), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortening of Old French espandre "to expand, extend, spread," from Latin expandre (see expand).
spangle (n.): early 15c., "small piece of glittering metal," diminutive of spang "glittering ornament, spangle," probably from Middle Dutch spange "brooch, clasp," cognate with Old English spang "buckle, clasp," from Proto-Germanic *spango, from an extended form of the root of span (v.).
spangle (v.): 1540s, "cover with spangles," from spangle (n.). Intransitive meaning "glitter, glisten" is from 1630s. Related: Spangled; spangling.
Spanglish (n.): "Spanish deformed by English words and idioms," by 1967, probably a nativization of Spanish Espanglish (1954); ultimately from Spanish (n.) + English.