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spat

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English has three nouns spelled spat, not counting the past tense of spit: the spawn of oysters, a short gaiter and a petty quarrel.[1][2]

Pronunciation

spat1 spawn of oysters

Etymology

The word for the spawn of shellfish is borrowed from Anglo-Norman spat,[4][5][1][6] recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1377 for the spawn of oysters;[7] the Anglo-Norman word is of unknown origin.[4][1][6] The OED calls the English word of obscure origin, perhaps related to spit, to eject from the mouth,[8] and Merriam-Webster gives its origin as unknown.[9] Etymonline suggests the past tense of spit and notes that the Century Dictionary compared Dutch spat (“a speck, spot”).[2] Weekley also thought it related to spit,[10] and Klein took it as a blend of spit and spatter.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The eggs of bees, a sense recorded only from 1634 to 1657, first in J. Levett's Ordering of Bees;[8][5] the spawn of oysters and other shellfish from 1667, in T. Sprat's History of the Royal-Society.[8][9] Etymonline dates the oyster sense to the 1660s.[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb, formed from the noun, followed the same path: of bees, to breed (1634), and of oysters, to spawn (1667).[8][5] The OED thinks that its use as a past participle in 1667 is due to association with spit.[8] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as the young shellfish, quoting Woodward on fossils.[12] In modern use the noun means a young oyster or other bivalve before or after it settles, and the verb also its attaching itself to a solid surface;[9] the settling of the larvae is called spatfall.[5]

Timeline

  • 1634 – the eggs of bees (obsolete by 1657); verb, of bees, to breed.[8]
  • 1667 – the spawn of oysters and other shellfish; verb, of oysters, to spawn.[8][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The spawn or young of oysters and other bivalve molluscs: The spat settled on the old shells in the bay.[9][5][8]
  2. A single young oyster or bivalve.[9][2]
  3. (obsolete, 1634–1657) The eggs of bees.[8][5]

Verb

  1. Of oysters, to release spawn.[9][8][5]
  2. Of a young mollusc, to attach itself permanently to a solid surface.[9]

spat2 short gaiter

Etymology

The word for the gaiter is a clipping of spatterdash,[13][2][8][9][5][4][1] a long legging worn to keep trousers or stockings from being spattered with mud, especially when riding, recorded from 1687.[13][8][5] That word was formed from spatter and dash, in its now archaic sense "to splash violently".[1][8][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

A short gaiter covering the instep and ankle: 1779, in the plural form spatts, according to Barnhart.[13][2] The OED's first record is from 1802, in C. James's New Military Dictionary,[8] and Merriam-Webster also dates it to about 1802.[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has nearly always been used in the plural, of a pair of short gaiters fastened with a strap under the foot,[8][9] while the longer spatterdash became a historical word.[5] In 19th-century Scotland and northern and southern England spat was also used for a gaiter or legging in general.[14] From 1931 the name was transferred to a streamlined cover over the wheel of an aircraft with fixed landing gear.[8][5][9]

Timeline

  • 1687 – spatterdash, a long gaiter.[8][13]
  • 1779 – spatts, short gaiters.[13][2] The OED's first record of the short form is from 1802.[8]
  • 1931 – a streamlined cover over the wheel of an aircraft.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A short cloth or leather gaiter covering the instep and ankle, fastened with a strap under the shoe; usually in the plural: He wore grey spats over his polished shoes.[9][8][5]
  2. (aeronautics) A streamlined fairing over the wheel of an aircraft with fixed landing gear.[9][8][5]

spat3 petty quarrel

Etymology

The petty quarrel, first recorded in American English, is probably imitative,[8][5][9][15] and Collins takes it as imitating the sound of quarrelling.[16] Barnhart, Etymonline and Ayto call it of unknown origin,[13][2][1] and Barnhart remarks that it is sometimes called imitative without any indication of what it imitates.[13] Etymonline compares the dialect noun meaning a smack or slap, attested from 1823.[2] The verb is probably from the noun.[13][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

A tiff or petty quarrel: 1804, in the Boston Repertory, of a quarrel between Pitt and Pulteney.[8][15][13] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1795–1805 and marks it as an Americanism.[17]

Semantic evolution

The verb to spat, to quarrel, is recorded in American English from 1809, as spat up;[8][15][13] Webster (1828) defined the noun as a petty combat or little quarrel and called it a vulgar use.[15] From 1823 the noun also meant a smart blow or slap, a sense Merriam-Webster dates to 1729 and labels chiefly dialectal.[8][9] The sense of a sharp smacking sound followed in 1881.[8] The verb likewise came to mean to clap or slap (about 1832) and to strike sharply or spatter (1868).[8] In the 19th century spat for a slight blow, slap or pat was used from Scotland and Cumberland to Kent and Hampshire, and in America.[14] Merriam-Webster also includes a light splash in this word,[9] while the OED and the Shorter Oxford treat that sense (1876) as apparently borrowed from Dutch spat in the same sense.[8][5]

Timeline

  • 1804 – a tiff, a petty quarrel (originally American).[8][13][15]
  • 1809 – verb, to quarrel (American).[8][13][15]
  • 1823 – a smart blow, a slap.[8] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1729.[9]
  • c. 1832 – verb, to clap or slap.[8][9]
  • 1868 – verb, to strike sharply, to spatter, in L. M. Alcott's Little Women.[8]
  • 1881 – a sharp smacking sound.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A brief, petty quarrel; a tiff: The neighbours had a spat over the hedge.[9][16][8][5]
  2. (chiefly dialectal) A quick, sharp blow; a slap.[9][16][8]
  3. A light splash, or a sound like large raindrops striking something: the spat of hail on the roof.[9]

Verb

  1. To quarrel briefly over small matters: The twins spatted constantly over the remote control.[9][16][5]
  2. (chiefly dialectal) To slap; to clap the hands together.[9][5][8]
  3. To strike, or fall, with a sound like large raindrops: Hailstones spatted against the glass.[9][8]
  • spit
  • spatter
  • spatterdash

Usage notes

Spat is also the past tense and past participle of spit, listed as its preterite by Johnson (1755).[12] The OED records it in compound adjectives such as spat-on and spat-out from 1922, in Joyce's Ulysses.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  14. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  16. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  17. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House