Where does “speechwriter” come from?

Speechwriter is a compound of English speech and writer, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European (s)per-, meaning to sprinkle or scatter.

speechwriter (English): someone who writes speeches for others,...

Definitions

  1. someone who writes speeches for others,...

Ancestry of “speechwriter”, step by step

speechwriter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English speech

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishspeechThe faculty of uttering articulate sounds or...
2Middle Englishspechespeaking, speech; dialogue, discussion,...
3Old Englishspǣċ
4Proto-West Germanic*sprākuspeech, language

via English writer

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishwriterA person who writes, or produces literary work;...
2Middle EnglishwriterA draughtsman, or copyist; one who notes down the...
3Old Englishwrīterewriter, scribe; draughtsman; painter; writer;...

Words derived from “speechwriter

Every word from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku