Etymology Explorer › Middle High German

Where does “spare” come from?

spare (Middle High German) comes from Old High German sparo, from Proto-West Germanic sparwō, from Proto-Germanic sparwô, from Proto-Indo-European spḗr — sparrow.

Ancestry of “spare”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High Germansparosparrow
2Proto-West Germanicsparwōsparrow
3Proto-Germanicsparwôsparrow
4Proto-Indo-Europeanspḗrsparrow

Words derived from “spare”

  • spaetzle
  • spätzli
  • Spätzle
  • spatze
  • spaz
  • Spatz
  • Spätzle
  • Spätzli
Every word from Proto-Indo-European spḗr →