Where does “spying” come from?
Spying comes from Middle English spien, from Old French espier, from Frankish spehōn, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- meaning to observe or look.
spying (English): present participle of spy; espionage
Definitions
- present participle of spy; espionage
Ancestry of “spying”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | spy | A person who secretly watches and examines the... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | — |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
Words derived from “spying”