English
sperm
Sperm comes from Latin sperma ‘seed, semen, sperm’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sper- ‘to scatter, strew’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sper-‘to scatter, strew’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*spérmn̥reconstructedwhich consists of *sper-
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*spérməreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσπέρμαspérma‘seed, semen’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsperma‘seed, semen, sperm’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sperme
- Englishearliest quotation 1603sperm
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sper-‘to scatter, strew’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*spérmn̥reconstructedwhich consists of *sper-
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*spérməreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσπέρμαspérma‘seed, semen’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsperma‘seed, semen, sperm’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sperme
- Englishearliest quotation 1603sperm
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Other Nations there are, that never have use of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sper- ‘to scatter, strew’
spare, spiral, diaspora, sparkle, sprout, spurious, spore, spiro, 22 more
Today it means
noun The reproductive cell or gamete of the male; a spermatozoon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sper- / sperm