Etymograph

English

overspread

Overspread comes from Old English ofersprǣdan ‘to overspread, cover, bethatch’, from sprǣdan ‘to spread, expand’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- ‘to strew, sow, sprinkle’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)per-1‘to strew, sow, sprinkle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spraidijaną1‘to spread’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*spraidijan1‘to spread’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sprǣdan2‘to spread, expand’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ofersprǣdan3‘to overspread, cover, bethatch’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500overspreden3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1612overspread3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English sprædan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English ofersprædan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English overspread
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Michael Drayton, (please specify the chapter): “those nations of the North which overspread the world”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)per-Wiktionary, Old English sprædan‘to strew, sow, sprinkle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spraidijanąWiktionary, Old English sprædan‘to spread’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*spraidijanWiktionary, Old English sprædan‘to spread’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sprǣdanWiktionary, Old English ofersprædan‘to spread, expand’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ofersprǣdanWiktionary, English overspread‘to overspread, cover, bethatch’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500overspredenWiktionary, English overspread
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1612overspreadWiktionary, English overspread. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Michael Drayton, (please specify the chapter): “those nations of the North which overspread the world”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- ‘to strew, sow, sprinkle’

fry, spray, spurt, 3 more

Today it means

verb To spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “overspread”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English sprædan, Old English ofersprædan. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- / overspread

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