English
spandrel
Spandrel may come from Old French espandre ‘to expand, extend, spread’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400espandre‘to expand, extend, spread’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2009spandrel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400espandre‘to expand, extend, spread’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2009spandrel
Earliest quotation: 2009, Anna R. Kinsella, Language Evolution and Syntactic Theory: “Another type of theory emphasises the sometimes accidental nature…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’
mile, compete, pen, petition, repeat, passage, helicopter, competitor, feather, symptom, perpetual, compass, impetus, perpetuate, perpetuity, pennant, pinion, passable, impetuous, trespass, petulant, patina, penna, pata, patella, petulance, 78 more
through Proto-Italic *pandō ‘to spread’
through Latin pandō ‘spread’
through Latin expandō ‘to spread something out’
through Old French espandre ‘to expand, extend, spread’
Today it means
noun The space (often more or less triangular) between the outer curve of an arch (the extrados) and a straight-sided figure that bounds it; the space between two contiguous arches and a straight feature above them.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French espandre / spandrel