Where does “spa” come from?
spa (Middle English) comes from Old Norse spá, from Proto-Germanic spahōną, from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- — to see, to look, to observe.
Ancestry of “spa”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | spá | a prophecy; to prophesy, to foretell |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | spahōną | to observe |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | speḱ- | to see, to look, to observe |