Etymologically
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espionage

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 04:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɛs.pi.əˌnɑːʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French espionnage (“spying”),[2][3][4][5] from espionner “to spy”,[2][3][4][5] from espion “spy”,[2][3][4][5] from Italian spione,[2][3][4][5] of Germanic origin,[2][3][6] akin to Old High German spehōn “to spy”.[3][4][5] It is related to English spy.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The practice of spying, or of employing spies (1793).[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense since it was borrowed.[7][2] It is applied both to governments seeking the military and political secrets of other nations and to companies spying on competitors, as in industrial espionage.[2][3][6] Etymonline notes that Middle English already had espiouress “female spy”.[5]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or practice of spying, or of using spies to obtain secret information, especially about a foreign government or a business competitor.

Word family

  • counterespionage
  • industrial espionage
  • tradecraft
  • spy
  • espy

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press