speedy

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English spedi,^[2][3][4] formed from English speed + -y,^[5][6][4][7] after or beside Old English spēdig (“prosperous, successful, wealthy”),^[3][2][8] which matches Middle Dutch spoedich (modern spoedig) and Middle Low German spôdig.^[5] The noun speed is from spēd (“success, prosperity”).^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Advantageous, helpful, effective: about 1380, in Wyclif's works;^[5] the Wycliffite Bible of about 1384 calls the word of God quyk and spedy in worching, translating Latin efficax.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Like speed, which first meant "success, prosperity", the adjective first meant "advantageous, helpful", following the Old English sense "prosperous, wealthy"; that meaning died out in the 15th century.^[3][5][6][8] The sense of speed as swiftness appears in the 14th century:^[3][4] the OED has "marked by speed of motion" from 1382 and "moving quickly" from 1487, in Barbour's Bruce.^[5] It was used of people who act promptly from about 1504, of actions that happen quickly from 1529, and of time passing quickly from 1598.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "quick; swift; nimble; quick of dispatch".^[10] In United States law a speedy trial, one held with little delay and regarded as a citizen's right, is recorded from 1894.^[5] In Cornish mining speedy ground was ground easily dug,^[11] and Irish slang has speedy for a police motorbike.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – advantageous, helpful (obsolete by 1449).^[5]
• 1382 – marked by speed of motion.^[5]
• 1487 – moving quickly, swift.^[5]
• c. 1504 – prompt, quick to act.^[5]
• 1529 – happening or done quickly.^[5]
• 1894 – speedy trial (United States law).^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Moving or able to move fast; swift: a speedy little car.^[13][4][5]
2. Done or happening without delay; prompt: We all wish him a speedy return to health.^[13][4][5]
3. speedy trial: (law) a criminal trial held without undue delay, as a right of the accused.^[5][14]
4. (obsolete, c. 1380–1449) Advantageous, helpful.^[5][2][6]

Word family

• speedily
• speediness
• overspeedy
• unspeedy

Related words

• speed

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West