spy English · revision 6590

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250|origins=ine-pro *speḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spaɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is Middle English spien, [[bor|fro|espier|t=to observe, watch closely]] (see [[espy]]) with its first syllable lost, and the noun is likewise from [[m|fro|espie|t=spy, look-out]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[frk|*spehōn]] or another Germanic source, cognate with [[goh|spehōn|t=to look out, spy]] and German [[m|de|spähen]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE [[ine-pro|*speḱ-|alt=*spek-|t=to observe]], also the source of Latin specere, to look.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a verb, to watch secretly: about 1250, in ''Genesis and Exodus'';^(Barnhart 1988) the noun, one who secretly watches others, about 1250 in the OED, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To catch sight of or discover, especially from hiding, is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and to act as a spy from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) A person employed in war to obtain secret information about the enemy is from the 14th century.^(OED 1989) Italian spiare and Spanish espiar are also Germanic loanwords.^(Etymonline) Old English had a different word, spyrian, to pursue or investigate.^(Etymonline) The children's game ''I spy'' was so called by 1946, and the spymaster is from 1943.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – to watch secretly; a spy.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to catch sight of.^(Etymonline)

+ * 14th century – a military spy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1943 – spymaster.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1946 – the game I spy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person employed by a government or organization to gather secret information about an enemy or rival.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who secretly watches others.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To work as a spy, or to watch someone secretly.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To catch sight of; to [[notice]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spyship]]

+ * [[counterspy]]

+ * [[spymaster]]

+ * [[superspy]]

+ * [[outspy]]

+ * [[spier]]

+ * [[spyhop]]

+ * [[unspied]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spyglass]]

+ * [[espy]]

+ * [[espionage]]

+ * [[spectacle]]

+ * [[species]]

+ * [[scope]]

+ * [[skeptic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}