English
spackle
Spackle may come from German Spachtel ‘spattle’.
- Germanc. 1650–presentSpachtel‘spattle’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2018spackle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Germanc. 1650–presentSpachtel‘spattle’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2018spackle
Earliest quotation: 2018, Helen Rosner, It’s Time to Admit That Iceberg Is a Superior Lettuce: “a spackle of guacamole inside a taco shell”.
The story
From Spackle, originally a brand name, perhaps based on German Spachtel which is ultimately from Latin spatula.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, deal, hot, fact, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, feature, mid, theme, defence, custom, ethnic, sufficient, treasury, treasure, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, defendant, feast, synthetic, theology, doom, deed, dis, atheist, ethic, tick, auditorium, auditor, atheism, demi, deem, thematic, ethos, forfeit, feral, 126 more
through Latin spatha ‘broad, flat tool’
through Latin spatula ‘a broad, flat piece’
Today it means
noun Any powder (originally containing gypsum plaster and glue) that when mixed with water forms a plastic paste, which is used to fill cracks and holes in plaster.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / German Spachtel / spackle