Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “spectacle” come from?

spectacle (Middle English) comes from French spectacle, from Latin spectāculum, from Latin -culum, from Proto-Italic -klom, from Proto-Indo-European -tlom, from Proto-Indo-European -trom, from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Ancestry of “spectacle”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchspectaclea show, a spectacle, a performance, a concert; a...
2Latinspectāculum—
3Latin-culumnominative neuter singular of -culus; accusative...
4Proto-Italic-klom—
5Proto-Indo-European-tlomAlternative form of *-trom
6Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
7Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “spectacle”

  • spectacle
  • bespectacled
  • spectacled
  • unspectacled
  • counterspectacle
  • superspectacle
  • minispectacle
  • unbespectacled
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →