Where does “espier” come from?
espier (Middle French) comes from Old French espier, from Vulgar Latin spiare, from Frankish spehōn, from Proto-Germanic spehōną, from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- — to see, to look, to observe.
espier (Middle French): to watch
Ancestry of “espier”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | espier | to watch |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | spiare | present active infinitive of *spiō |
| 3 | Frankish | spehōn | to spy, watch; to peer, to look, to spy |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | spehōną | to peer, look, spy |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | speḱ- | to see, to look, to observe |
Words derived from “espier”