Where does “Spear” come from?
Spear comes from Middle English spere, from Old English spere, from Latin sphaera, from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα, ultimately derived from Ancient Greek σπαίρω meaning to swell or bulge.
Ancestry of “Spear”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | spere | A spear or lance; The Lance of Longinus; A barb... |
| 2 | Old French | sphere | sphere |
| 3 | Latin | sphēra | — |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | σφαῖρα | ball, globe, sphere |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -ειδής | like, connected to, from the nature of, full of;... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -ής | adjective suffix |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ēs | Primarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ess | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |
Words derived from “Spear”