Where does “spade” come from?

Spade comes from Middle English spade, from Old English spadu, from Proto-Germanic spadō, from Proto-Indo-European sph₂-dʰ-, a root of uncertain meaning related to digging or splitting tools.

spade (English): A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for...

Definitions

  1. A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for...

Ancestry of “spade”, step by step

spade traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Italian spade

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italianspadeplural of spada
2Italianspataspathe
3Latinspathaspatula, spattle; spatha; a long, two-edged,...
4Ancient Greekσπάθηany broad blade, of wood or metal
5Proto-Indo-Europeansph₂-dʰ-—

via Middle English spade

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishspadetool for digging, shovel
2Old Englishspaduspade
3Proto-Germanicspadōspade
4Proto-Germanicspadôspade

Words derived from “spade”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sph₂-dʰ- →