English
spattle
Spattle comes from Late Latin spatula ‘a broad, flat piece’, and goes back to Proto-Hellenic *spátʰā ‘blade’.
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*spátʰā‘blade’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσπάθηspáthē‘any broad blade, of wood or metal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspatha‘broad, flat tool’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEspatula‘a broad, flat piece’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400spatule
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spatyll
- Englishearliest quotation 1815spattle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*spátʰā‘blade’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσπάθηspáthē‘any broad blade, of wood or metal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspatha‘broad, flat tool’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEspatula‘a broad, flat piece’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400spatule
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spatyll
- Englishearliest quotation 1815spattle
Earliest quotation: 1815, Thomas BURFORD, The Friendly Instructor: “Ice Creams. Put your cream in the freezing pot,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, feature, theme, defence, custom, ethnic, sufficient, treasury, treasure, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, defendant, feast, synthetic, theology, doom, tick, deed, dis, ethic, auditorium, auditor, atheist, demi, deem, ethos, forfeit, feral, atheism, familial, 126 more
through Latin spatha ‘broad, flat tool’
through Late Latin spatula ‘a broad, flat piece’
Today it means
noun A spatula.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Hellenic *spátʰā / spattle