Etymograph

English

spool

Spool comes from Middle English spole ‘a bobbin or spool (for weaving)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- ‘to cleave, split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pel-‘to cleave, split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spōlǭreconstructed
  3. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*spōlareconstructed
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500spoele
  5. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400spole
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spole‘a bobbin or spool (for weaving)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2011spool

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pel-‘to cleave, split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spōlǭreconstructed
  3. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*spōlareconstructed
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500spoele
  5. Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400spole
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spole‘a bobbin or spool (for weaving)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2011spool

Earliest quotation: 2011, Rebekah Modrak, Bill Anthes: “If you need to reload film, the cassette can…”

The story

The aviation usage is based on the visual similarity of one of the spools of a turbine engine to a spool used for thread (especially in cross-section).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- ‘to cleave, split’

spell, spill, spoil, 11 more

Today it means

noun A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- / spool

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