Where does “Mittelspiel” come from?

Mittelspiel (German) comes from German spiel, from Middle High German spil, from Old High German spil, from Proto-West Germanic spil — dance; game, exercise.

Mittelspiel (German): middlegame

Definitions

  1. middlegame

Ancestry of “Mittelspiel”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanspiela game instance or way of playing
2Middle High Germanspil—
3Old High Germanspil—
4Proto-West Germanicspildance; game, exercise
Every word from Proto-West Germanic spil →Every word from Old High German spil →Every word from Middle High German spil →