English
spandrel
Spandrel may come from Old French espandre ‘to expand, extend, spread’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peth₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-1‘to spread out’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ptnéh₂ti1uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pandō1‘to spread’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpandō2‘spread’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpandō3‘to spread something out’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400espandre4‘to expand, extend, spread’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2009spandrel4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin pando
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin expando
- 3 Wiktionary, Old French espandre
- 4 Wiktionary, English spandrel
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Anna R. Kinsella, Language Evolution and Syntactic Theory: “Another type of theory emphasises the sometimes accidental nature…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-Wiktionary, Latin pando‘to spread out’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ptnéh₂tiWiktionary, Latin pandouncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pandōWiktionary, Latin pando‘to spread’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpandōWiktionary, Latin expando‘spread’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpandōWiktionary, Old French espandre‘to spread something out’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400espandreWiktionary, English spandrel‘to expand, extend, spread’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2009spandrelWiktionary, English spandrel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2009, Anna R. Kinsella, Language Evolution and Syntactic Theory: “Another type of theory emphasises the sometimes accidental nature…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’
mile, compete, pen, petition, repeat, passage, helicopter, competitor, feather, symptom, perpetual, compass, impetus, perpetuate, perpetuity, pennant, pinion, passable, impetuous, trespass, petulant, patina, penna, pata, patella, petulance, 78 more
through Proto-Italic *pandō ‘to spread’
through Latin pandō ‘spread’
through Latin expandō ‘to spread something out’
through Old French espandre ‘to expand, extend, spread’
Today it means
noun The space (often more or less triangular) between the outer curve of an arch (the extrados) and a straight-sided figure that bounds it; the space between two contiguous arches and a straight feature above them.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “spandrel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin pando, Latin expando, Old French espandre. 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 *peth₂- / spandrel