Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “espionage” come from?

Espionage comes from French espionnage, formed with the French suffix -age added to French espionner, which derives from Italian spione, ultimately rooted in Proto-Indo-European -kos.

espionage (English): The act or process of learning secret information...

Definitions

  1. The act or process of learning secret information...

Ancestry of “espionage”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchespionnageespionage; spying
2Frenchespionnerto spy
3Frenchespionspy
4Middle Frenchespion—
5Old Frenchespionspy
6Frankish*spehō—
7Frankishspehōnto spy, watch; to peer, to look, to spy
8Proto-Germanicspehōnąto peer, look, spy
9Proto-Indo-Europeanspeḱ-to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “espionage”

  • counterespionage
  • antiespionage
  • counter-espionage
  • espiocrat
  • cyberespionage
Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →