Where does “spake” come from?

Spake comes from Middle English spake, from Old English spāca, from Proto-Germanic sprēkijō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European spereg-, meaning to speak or scatter words.

spake (English): Quiet; tame; Ready; prompt; simple past tense of...

Definitions

  1. Quiet; tame; Ready; prompt; simple past tense of...

Ancestry of “spake”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishspakeAlternative form of spoke
2Old Norsespakrquiet, gentle; wise, with the notion of prophetic...
3Proto-Germanicspakazwise, clever
4Proto-Indo-Europeanspeḱ-to see, to look, to observe

Words derived from “spake”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic spakaz →Every word from Old Norse spakr →