span English · revision 13158

− It is Middle English spanne, [[inh|ang|span|t=distance between the thumb and little finger of an extended hand]], spann,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) reinforced from about 1300 by Old French espan, of Germanic origin.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Dutch spanne, Old High German spanna (German [[m|de|Spanne]]) and Old Norse spǫnn,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and probably related to the verb Old English spannan, to join, fasten, from Proto-Germanic *spannan,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*(s)pen-|t=to draw, stretch, spin]].^(Etymonline) The Germanic word was also borrowed into Medieval Latin as spannus.^(Etymonline)