Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “spade” come from?

spade (Middle English) comes from Old English spadu, from Proto-Germanic spadō, from Proto-Germanic spadô, from Proto-Indo-European sph₂-dʰ-.

Ancestry of “spade”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishspaduspade
2Proto-Germanicspadōspade
3Proto-Germanicspadôspade
4Proto-Indo-Europeansph₂-dʰ-—

Words derived from “spade”

  • paddle
  • spade
  • paddling
  • paddler
  • spadeful
  • spadework
  • paddlefish
  • paddleboat
  • spadefoot
  • paddlelike
  • paddleball
  • spadelike
  • paddleboard
  • spadefish
  • spadesman
  • spader
  • spaddle
  • paddlesport
  • backpaddle
  • spadetail
  • paddleless
  • paddlewood
  • spadeless
  • spadebone
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sph₂-dʰ- →