Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “spurious” come from?

Spurious comes from Late Latin spurius, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European sper-, meaning to strew or scatter.

spurious (English): False, not authentic, not genuine; Extraneous;...

Definitions

  1. False, not authentic, not genuine; Extraneous;...

Ancestry of “spurious”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinSpurius—
2Latinspuriusof illegitimate birth; false, spurious
3Proto-Indo-Europeansper-to fidget, twitch; to push; to be quick; to...

Words derived from “spurious”

  • spuriously
  • spuriousness
  • nonspurious
  • spuriosity
  • spurion
  • unspurious
  • antispurion
  • spurionic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sper- →