English
spark
Spark comes from Middle English sparke, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *sparkō.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sparkōreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150spearca
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sparke
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592spark
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sparkōreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150spearca
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sparke
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592spark
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “if any spark of life be yet remaining”.
The story
From Middle English sparke, sperke, from Old English spearca, from Proto-West Germanic *sparkō (compare Saterland Frisian Spoorke, West Frisian spark, Dutch spark, German Low German Sparke, German Sparke), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *sparkaz (‘lively, energetic’), from Proto-Indo-European *sperg- (‘to strew, sprinkle’) (compare Breton erc’h (‘snow’), Latin spargō (‘to scatter, spread’), sparsus (‘scattered’), Lithuanian sprógti (‘to germinate’), Ancient Greek σπαργάω (spargáō, “to swell”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬈𐬔𐬀 (frasparega, “branch, twig”), Sanskrit पर्जन्य (parjanya, “rain, rain god”)).
Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *sparkō
Today it means
noun A small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire, resulting from an electrical surge or excessive heat created by friction.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *sparkō / spark