Etymology Explorer › Old High German

Where does “spīwan” come from?

spīwan (Old High German) comes from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European (s)ptyēw- — to spit, vomit.

Ancestry of “spīwan”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-West Germanic*spīwan—
2Proto-Germanicspīwanąto spew, to spit
3Proto-Indo-European(s)ptyēw-to spit, vomit

Words derived from “spīwan”

  • speien
  • Wasserspeier
  • שפּײַען
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)ptyēw- →