Where does “space” come from?

space (Middle English) comes from Old French espace, from Latin spatium, from Proto-Indo-European spéh₁-, from Proto-Indo-European speh₁- — to succeed, to prosper.

Ancestry of “space”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchespacespace; room; duration
2LatinspatiumSpace, room, extent; Distance between points; A...
3Proto-Indo-Europeanspéh₁-to succeed, to prosper
4Proto-Indo-Europeanspeh₁-to succeed, to prosper

Words derived from “space”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European speh₁- →