speed English · revision 3242

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 800|origins=gem-pro *spōdiz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spiːd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|spede]],^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|spēd|t=success, prosperity, riches; luck; advancement]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*spōdiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Saxon spōd “success”, Dutch spoed “haste, speed” and Old High German spuot “success”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from the Germanic base of Old English spōwan “to prosper, succeed”.^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004) It is traced to [[ine-pro|*speh₁-|alt=*spē-|t=to thrive, prosper]],^(AHD 2000)^(Etymonline) the source also of Latin spēs “hope” and Sanskrit spháyate “increases”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The verb is Middle English speden, from Old English spēdan “to succeed, prosper, advance”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English spēd, “success, prosperity”, is recorded before 800,^(Barnhart 1988) and in the sense “abundance” before 900.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Speed first meant success, and the link with quickness is probably the habit of equating doing something well with doing it fast.^(Cresswell 2021)^(AHD 2000) The meaning “quickness, swiftness” emerged in late Old English, at first usually in the dative plural used as an adverb, as in spedum feran.^(Etymonline) The old sense survives in ''Godspeed'' and ''more haste, less speed''.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) The rate of motion, fast or slow, is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to succeed, prosper” in Old English (993),^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) “to go quickly” from about 1200,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) “to send forth quickly” from the 1560s,^(Etymonline) and “to drive a car too fast” from 1908.^(Etymonline) A gear of a machine is from 1866.^(Etymonline) The ''speed limit'' is from 1879, first of locomotives, and the ''speed trap'' from 1908.^(Etymonline) ''Speed'' as slang for amphetamines is from the 1960s, by 1967.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 800 – Old English spēd, success.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 993 – verb, to succeed.^(OED 1989)

+ * late Old English – swiftness.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to go quickly.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – rate of motion.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1866 – a gear.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1879 – ''speed limit''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – verb, to drive too fast, and ''speed trap''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1967 – amphetamine (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The rate at which someone or something moves or happens.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Quickness of motion; [[swiftness]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A [[gear]] of a vehicle or machine: ''a ten-speed bicycle''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The sensitivity of a photographic [[film]], or the time a camera's [[shutter]] is open.^(AHD)

+ # ''(slang)'' An [[amphetamine]] drug.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Success; prosperity.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move or go quickly.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To drive faster than the legal limit.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(speed up)'' To make or become faster.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To help to succeed; to prosper.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[speedster]]

+ * [[speeder]]

+ * [[speedful]]

+ * [[speedfully]]

+ * [[speedfulness]]

+ * [[speedingly]]

+ * [[speedingness]]

+ * [[speedless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speedy]]

+ * [[speedometer]]

+ * [[speedway]]

+ * [[godspeed]]

+ * [[despair]]

+ * [[prosper]]

+ * [[space]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In northern English and Yorkshire dialect ''speed'' was also a disease of young cattle, especially in autumn.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}