English Explanatory Dictionary

speight

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A woodpecker.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/speɪt/ /spaɪt/

Word forms

speight speights specht spekt spight

Etymology

From late Northern Middle English specht (“woodpecker”), from Old English *spiht, *speoht, from Proto-West Germanic *spiht, *speht, from Proto-Germanic *spihtaz, *spehtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“a kind of bird, woodpecker, magpie”). Traditionally considered to be borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, but this is rendered problematic by the mention of Spehtesberie in Domesday (Middle English Speghtesbury, Spettesbury; modern Spettisbury). Compare Dutch specht (“woodpecker”), German Specht (“woodpecker”), Danish spætte (“woodpecker”), Latin pīcus (“woodpecker”).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on S Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary