English
spall
Spall comes from Middle English spalle ‘a chip’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spalle‘a chip’
- Englishearliest quotation 1778spall
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spalle‘a chip’
- Englishearliest quotation 1778spall
Earliest quotation: 1778, William Pryce, Mineralogia Cornubiensis: A Treatise on Minerals: “Cobbed Ore is the ſpalled which is broke out…”
The story
From Middle English spalle (‘a chip’) (first documented in 1440), of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Every English word from Middle English spalle
Today it means
noun A splinter, fragment or chip, especially of stone.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English spalle / spall