spike English · revision 10716

+ Spike, a large nail or sharp point, is probably from Scandinavian or Dutch; spike, an ear of grain, is from Latin spīca.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spaɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|sharp point}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1345|origins=non spík}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably borrowed from a Scandinavian source: compare [[bor|non|spík|t=splinter]], spíkr, nail, and Middle Swedish spijk, nail, from [[m|gem-pro|*spīkaz]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster and the NODE prefer Middle Dutch spike or Middle Low German spīker, and the NODE relates it to [[spoke]].^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)^(Hoad 1986) 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.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A large, strong nail: 1345–46, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to fasten with spikes, is from the 1620s, and to furnish with spikes from the 1680s.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) To spike a cannon, by driving a spike into the touch-hole, gave the figurative ''spike someone's guns'', to thwart their plans (1823).^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The journalism sense, to kill a story before publication (1908), comes from the upright spindle on which editors filed rejected copy.^(Etymonline) To lace a drink with alcohol is slang by 1889,^(Etymonline) and to rise sharply, as on a graph, is from 1958.^(Etymonline) A sharp peak in voltage or a graph is a spike in physics.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1345–46 – a large nail.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1620s – to spike (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1823 – spike someone's guns.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1889 – to spike a drink.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – to spike a story.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1958 – to rise sharply.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long, sharp-pointed piece of metal or wood; a heavy [[nail]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # One of the sharp metal points on the sole of a running shoe.^(AHD)

+ # A sharp rise or peak, as on a graph.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pierce or fasten with a spike.^(AHD)

+ # To add alcohol or a drug to a drink secretly.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To put a stop to; to block: ''to spike a story''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To rise sharply.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spiky]]

+ * [[spiked]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|ear of grain}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=la spica}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|spīca|t=ear of grain]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) cognate with Dutch spie, peg, and possibly related to Latin spīna, thorn (see [[spine]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An ear of grain: probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1300 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1393 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hoad notes the sense was rare before the 17th century.^(Hoad 1986) In botany, a spike is a cluster of stalkless flowers along an unbranched stem, from 1578.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The star Spica, the Virgin's spike, translates Latin spīca Virginis (1559).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – an ear of grain.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1559 – the Virgin's spike (star).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1578 – a flower spike.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An ear of [[grain]], as of wheat.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(botany)'' A long cluster of stalkless flowers along a single stem.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spikelet]]

+ * [[spikenard]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spine]]

+ * [[spoke]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}