Etymograph

English

espionage

Espionage comes from French espionner ‘to spy’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to look’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-‘to look’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spehōną‘to spy, peek, peer’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*spehōn‘to spy’reconstructed
  4. Frankish, derivedc. 250–700*spehō‘spy’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400espion‘spy’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600espionner‘to spy’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentespionner‘to spy’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentespionnage
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1859espionage

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-‘to look’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spehōną‘to spy, peek, peer’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*spehōn‘to spy’reconstructed
  4. Frankish, derivedc. 250–700*spehō‘spy’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400espion‘spy’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600espionner‘to spy’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentespionner‘to spy’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentespionnage
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1859espionage

Earliest quotation: 1859, George Meredith, London: Chapman and Hall: “So intolerable did Heavy Benson's espionage become, that Raynham…”

The story

Recorded since 1793, from French espionnage, from espionner (‘to spy’), from Middle French espionner (‘to spy’), from espion (‘spy’), from Old French espion (‘spy’), from Frankish *spehō (‘spy’), from Frankish *spehōn (‘to spy’), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (‘to spy, peek, peer’). In modern times, the French pronunciation of the s, which had fallen silent since the 13th century, was restored due to the influence of Italian spione (‘spy’), and was therefore also adopted by the English.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to look’

special, specific, respect, species, despite, perspective, scope, aspect, inspector, spectrum, spectacular, expectation, inspection, skeptical, spite, specify, speculation, specimen, spice, spectacle, inspect, speculative, suspicion, retrospective, spectator, speculate, retrospect, conspicuous, expectant, specter, skeptic, macroscopic, endoscopic, spectroscopic, circumspect, speculator, specious, specular, espy, 118 more

through Frankish *spehōn ‘to spy’

spy

Today it means

noun The act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- / espionage

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