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 →