spiwan

Forms

spīwan (strong class 1; third-person singular present spīwþ, past singular spāw, past plural spiwon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną (“to spit”).^[1][2] It is a strong verb of the first class in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan, “to spit”), Old Norse spýja (“to spew”), Old Frisian spīa, Old Saxon spīwan and Old High German spīwan.^[2][3][4]

Orel relates it to Latin spuō (“to spit”) and the Lithuanian verb for spitting, with Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “to spit”) as an irregular cognate.^[3] Kroonen notes that the Greek initial cluster makes the original order of the consonants hard to fix, and sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *sptiHu- or *stpiHu-.^[2] Köbler cites the root as Proto-Indo-European *spi̯ēu- (“to spit”), and Holthausen compares the Latin, Greek, Lithuanian and Slavic verbs.^[5][6] Etymonline holds the whole group to be probably imitative.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897), where a woman may spit in a man's face: ðonne is cynn ðæt him spiwe ðæt wif on ðæt nebb “then it is right that the woman spit in his face”.^[8][9][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give it two senses: to vomit or spit something up, with the thing in the accusative or dative (blode spaw “spat blood” in the Old English Bede), and to spit.^[10][9] Most of the record is in the medical texts, where a remedy is given ðæt hē mǣge spīwan “so that he can vomit”.^[10] In poetry it can mean to pour out, as in Beowulf, and in Exodus the sea spewed gore, holm heolfre spāw.^[11][10]

The word lived on as Middle English spewen, now spew.^[7]

Timeline

• 890×897 – spiwe ðæt wif on ðæt nebb in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[8][9]
• s. x med. – remedies to make the sick vomit in Bald's Leechbook.^[12][10]
• s. x/xi – the verb, “to pour out”, in the Beowulf manuscript.^[13][11]
• s. x/xi – the killed children of Bethlehem spitting out milk before blood in the Old English Martyrology.^[14][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. to vomit, to spew up.^[10][5]
2. (poetic) to pour out, disgorge.^[11]
3. to spit.^[10]

Word family

• āspīwan

Descendants

• Middle English spewen (→ English spew; Middle Scots spew)^[1]

Related words

• spēowan
• spiwian
• spǣtan

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 468
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 365
4. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 450
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. spīwan
6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 311
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
9. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
10. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 902
11. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. spīwan
12. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 412
13. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 281