Etymograph

English

spoor

Spoor comes from Dutch spoor ‘track’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sperH- ‘to kick’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sperH-‘to kick’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spurą‘track’reconstructed
  3. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*spor‘track, trace’reconstructed
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500spor
  5. Dutchc. 1500–presentspoor‘track’
  6. Afrikaansmodernsame form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1912same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sperH-‘to kick’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spurą‘track’reconstructed
  3. Old Dutchc. 500–1150*spor‘track, trace’reconstructed
  4. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500spor
  5. Dutchc. 1500–presentspoor‘track’
  6. Afrikaansmodernsame form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1912same form

Earliest quotation: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “We all stopped to examine that monstrous spoor. If…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sperH- ‘to kick’

sphere, spear, spur, 10 more

through Proto-Germanic *spurą ‘track’

speer

Today it means

noun The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sperH- / spoor

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