Etymograph

English

sparerib

Sparerib may come from Middle Low German ribbespêr ‘spare-ribs’, from Proto-Germanic *ribją ‘rib’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- ‘to cover, to roof’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-1‘to cover, to roof’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-yo-m1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ribją2‘rib’uncertain
  4. Old Saxonc. 800–1200ribbi2uncertain
  5. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600ribbespêr2‘spare-ribs’uncertain
  6. Low Germanmodernribbesper2uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1976sparerib2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *ribją
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sparerib
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1976, Ruth Berolzheimer, Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook: “SPARERIBS AND SAUERKRAUT […] Place sauerkraut in greased baking…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *ribją‘to cover, to roof’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁rebʰ-yo-mWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *ribjąuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ribjąWiktionary, English sparerib‘rib’uncertain
  4. Old Saxonc. 800–1200ribbiWiktionary, English spareribuncertain
  5. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600ribbespêrWiktionary, English sparerib‘spare-ribs’uncertain
  6. Low GermanmodernribbesperWiktionary, English spareribuncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1976spareribWiktionary, English sparerib. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1976, Ruth Berolzheimer, Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook: “SPARERIBS AND SAUERKRAUT […] Place sauerkraut in greased baking…”

The story

Probably borrowed from Low German ribbesper, from Middle Low German ribbespêr (‘spare-ribs’), from ribbe (‘rib’) + sper (‘spear; spit’), from Old Saxon ribbi + sper, from Proto-Germanic *ribją + *speru. The word was transposed, with the first element becoming confused with English spare due to folk-etymology.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *ribją ‘rib’

reef, rib, 1 more

Today it means

noun A cut of meat including the rib bones.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sparerib”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *ribją. 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 *h₁rebʰ- / sparerib

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