spew

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English speuen,^[2][3] which continues two Old English verbs: strong inherited from Old English spīwan and weak spēowan, also spīowan;^[4][5][6][7] the strong forms barely outlived Old English.^[4][3] The strong verb is from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną (“to spit”),^[8][9][10] source also of Old Frisian spīa, Old Saxon spīwan, Dutch spuwen, Old High German spīwan (now German speien), Old Norse spýja and Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan).^[4][10][8] Outside Germanic the stem appears in Latin spuō (“to spit”), Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō) and Lithuanian spiáuti, though the forms are irregular.^[4][9][11] Barnhart and Köbler reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *(s)p(h)yēu- after Pokorny,^[10][12] de Vaan writes the verb Proto-Indo-European *sp(i)uH-ie/o-,^[13] and Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford take the base to be imitative.^[3][5][6] The spelling spue was influenced by the Latin verb, according to Weekley.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To vomit: before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care.^[10][4] Old English also used it transitively, of food, drink or blood brought up through the mouth.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Figurative use came early: from about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle, people could spew out abusive or objectionable language,^[4][2] and in the Wycliffite Bible and after, a land or people could spew out what it loathed, as in Leviticus.^[4][14] Chaucer has the plain sense "vomit, spit out".^[15] The general sense of ejecting something as if by vomiting is recorded from the 1590s, including volcanoes from 1594,^[4][3] and sailors spoke of a ship's seams spewing their oakum under strain.^[4][5] The intransitive use of water and other liquids gushing or oozing follows in the 17th century,^[4][3] and of swollen ground slipping in 1839.^[4] The noun comes from the verb: the OED has it from 1609, Etymonline from about 1600, and the Shorter Oxford and Merriam-Webster Unabridged from the 15th century.^{[4][3][5][11]} Johnson (1755) treated "to vomit" and "to eject with loathing" as its main senses.^[14] Slang has used the verb for ejaculating since about 1673 and for speaking or confessing since 1794.^[16] English dialects from Scotland to Somerset kept the plain sense, with compounds such as spew-faced, sickly-looking.^[17] In dialect the noun also meant a late swarm of bees and a marshy spot.^[4][11]

Timeline

• before 899 – to vomit.^[10][4]
• c. 1225 – to pour out abusive language.^[4]
• before 1425 – to cast out with loathing or contempt.^[4]
• 1570 – to force out by undue strain, as oakum from a ship's seams.^[4]
• 1594 – to eject by volcanic action.^[4]
• 1605 – to throw out as if by vomiting.^[4] Etymonline has this general sense by the 1590s.^[3]
• 1609 – noun, vomited matter.^[4]
• 1670 – of water or other liquids, to flow in a stream or ooze.^[4] Etymonline has the intransitive use by the 1660s.^[3]
• 1742 – noun, in dialect, a late swarm of bees.^[4]
• 1794 – noun, in dialect, a wet place where water oozes up; in slang, the verb to speak.^[4][16]
• 1839 – of ground, to swell with moisture and slip.^[4]
• 1893 – noun, in technical use, material exuded; from 1933, the surplus from a plastics mould.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To vomit: He spewed over the side of the boat.^[18][11][4]
2. To send out in a stream or with force: The chimney spewed black smoke.^[18][11][4]
3. To flow out in a gush, or to ooze: Mud spewed from the broken pipe.^[18][11][4]
4. To pour out angry or objectionable language: to spew insults.^[4][5]
5. To cast out with disgust or contempt.^[4][5][11]
6. Of soil, to swell with water or frost and slip.^[11][4]
7. be spewing (Australian, informal): to be angry and resentful.^[18]

Noun

1. Vomited matter.^[11][4][18]
2. Material forced out or exuded, such as the overflow from a mould.^[11][4]
3. (British dialect) A late swarm of bees, usually the third or fourth of a season.^[11][4]
4. (British dialect) A soggy patch of ground where water oozes up.^[11][4]

Word family

• spewer
• unspewed

Related words

• spit
• spue
• sputum

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ 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.
15. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ 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)
18. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins