English
sputum
Sputum comes from Latin sputum ‘that which is spit out, spittle’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *stpuH-ie-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stpuH-ie-‘to spit, spew’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spujōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspuōas spuere‘to spit’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsputum‘that which is spit out, spittle’
- Englishearliest quotation 2018same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stpuH-ie-‘to spit, spew’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spujōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspuōas spuere‘to spit’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsputum‘that which is spit out, spittle’
- Englishearliest quotation 2018same form
Earliest quotation: 2018, Louis Rosenfeld: “In the early 1890s the work in the laboratory…”
Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *stpuH-ie-
Today it means
noun Matter coughed up and expectorated from the mouth, composed of saliva and discharges from the respiratory passages such as mucus, phlegm or pus.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *stpuH-ie- / sputum