Where does “spitting” come from?
Spitting comes from Old English spitu, from Proto-Germanic spitą, from Proto-Indo-European spey-, which referred to the act of ejecting saliva from the mouth.
spitting (English): present participle of spit; expectoration; An...
Definitions
- present participle of spit; expectoration; An...
Ancestry of “spitting”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | spit | A thin metal or wooden rod on which meat is... |
| 2 | Middle English | spit | — |
| 3 | Middle English | despit | — |
| 4 | Old French | despit | — |
| 5 | Latin | dēspectus | — |
| 6 | Latin | dēspiciō | — |
| 7 | Latin | dē- | — |
| 8 | Latin | dē | — |
| 9 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 10 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | posti | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |