spike

Spike, a large nail or sharp point, is probably from Scandinavian or Dutch; spike, an ear of grain, is from Latin spīca.^[1][2][3][4]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spaɪk/^[5]

spike¹ sharp point

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from a Scandinavian source: compare borrowed from Old Norse spík (“splinter”), spíkr, nail, and Middle Swedish spijk, nail, from *spīkaz;^[1][2] Merriam-Webster and the NODE prefer Middle Dutch spike or Middle Low German spīker, and the NODE relates it to spoke.^[4][6][3] Older sources trace it to a root meaning “sharp point”, also in Latin spīca and spīna, but de Vaan connects only the Germanic, Latin and perhaps Lithuanian words.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large, strong nail: 1345–46, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to fasten with spikes, is from the 1620s, and to furnish with spikes from the 1680s.^[2][4] To spike a cannon, by driving a spike into the touch-hole, gave the figurative spike someone's guns, to thwart their plans (1823).^[2][7] The journalism sense, to kill a story before publication (1908), comes from the upright spindle on which editors filed rejected copy.^[2] To lace a drink with alcohol is slang by 1889,^[2] and to rise sharply, as on a graph, is from 1958.^[2] A sharp peak in voltage or a graph is a spike in physics.^[8]

Timeline

• 1345–46 – a large nail.^[1]
• 1620s – to spike (verb).^[2]
• 1823 – spike someone's guns.^[2]
• 1889 – to spike a drink.^[2]
• 1908 – to spike a story.^[2]
• 1958 – to rise sharply.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long, sharp-pointed piece of metal or wood; a heavy nail.
2. One of the sharp metal points on the sole of a running shoe.
3. A sharp rise or peak, as on a graph.

Verb

1. To pierce or fasten with a spike.
2. To add alcohol or a drug to a drink secretly.
3. To put a stop to; to block: to spike a story.
4. To rise sharply.

Word family

• spiky
• spiked

spike² ear of grain

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin spīca (“ear of grain”),^[1][2][4] cognate with Dutch spie, peg, and possibly related to Latin spīna, thorn (see spine).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ear of grain: probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder,^[1] about 1300 in Etymonline,^[2] 1393 in the OED.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Hoad notes the sense was rare before the 17th century.^[3] In botany, a spike is a cluster of stalkless flowers along an unbranched stem, from 1578.^[9][2] The star Spica, the Virgin's spike, translates Latin spīca Virginis (1559).^[9]

Timeline

• before 1300 – an ear of grain.^[1]
• 1559 – the Virgin's spike (star).^[9]
• 1578 – a flower spike.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An ear of grain, as of wheat.
2. (botany) A long cluster of stalkless flowers along a single stem.

Word family

• spikelet
• spikenard

Related words

• spine
• spoke

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press