Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “spices” come from?

Spices derives from Middle English spice, from Old French espice, from Latin species meaning "appearance" or "kind," from specio meaning "to look," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- meaning "to observe."

spices (English): plural of spice; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of spice; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “spices”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishspiceAromatic or pungent plant matter used to season...
2Middle Englishspicespices; A variety, sort, or kind of something; A...
3Old Frenchespicespice
4Late Latinspeciesspice, good, ware; a seeing, view, look; a...
5Classical Latinspeciēs—
Every word from Classical Latin speciēs →