English Explanatory Dictionary

spy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).
  2. A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately.
verb
  1. To act as a spy.
  2. To spot; to catch sight of; to espy.
  3. To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
  4. To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.

Pronunciation

/spaɪ/ en-us-spy.ogg

Word forms

spy spies spying spied

Etymology

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos). Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).

Synonyms

espial espy ghost intelligencer secret agent spook spy undie

Related words

spyglass spyware

Derived words

antispy bespy co-spy cyberspy Eurospy spyboat spybot spycam spycatcher spycatching spy cop spycore spycraft spydom spy dust spyess spy-fi Spygate spyhole spy-hop spy-hopping spyism spyless spylike spymaster spymistress spy money spyplane spyproof spy ring spy satellite spyship spywork superspy counterspy hi-spy-hi I spy I spy with my little eye outspy spier spyhop spy on spy out unspied
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