Etymograph

English

spike

Spike comes from Old Norse spík ‘spike, sprig’, from Proto-Germanic *spīkō ‘stick, splinter, point’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spey-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spey-‘to be pointed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spīkō‘stick, splinter, point’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350spík‘spike, sprig’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spike
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1720spike

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spey-‘to be pointed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spīkō‘stick, splinter, point’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350spík‘spike, sprig’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spike
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1720spike

Earliest quotation: a. 1720, Joseph Addison, Dialogue II: “He vvears on his head the Corona Radiata, vvhich…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘to be pointed’

spine, spinal, spinach, cusp, asp, spire, buckthorn, spina, spigot, spica, aspic, 28 more

Today it means

noun A sort of very large nail.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *spey- / spike

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