Etymograph

English

spathe

Spathe comes from Latin spatha ‘spatula, spattle’, from Ancient Greek σπάθη ‘blade’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sph₂-dʰh₁-éh₂1uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*spátʰā1‘blade’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσπάθη2spáthē‘blade’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspatha2‘spatula, spattle’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1869spathe2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σπάθη
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English spathe
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago: “All the joints and angles are coffered with strips…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σπάθη‘to do’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sph₂-dʰh₁-éh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σπάθηuncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*spátʰāWiktionary, Ancient Greek σπάθη‘blade’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσπάθηWiktionary, English spathespáthē‘blade’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspathaWiktionary, English spathe‘spatula, spattle’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1869spatheWiktionary, English spathe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago: “All the joints and angles are coffered with strips…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

do, fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, feature, defence, custom, sufficient, treasury, treasure, ethnic, theme, defendant, feast, ethical, doom, tick, deed, dis, aesthetic, synthetic, thesis, theology, auditorium, auditor, demi, deem, forfeit, feral, ethic, familial, medial, medallion, prefect, 124 more

through Latin spatha ‘spatula, spattle’

spade, spatula, espada, spall, 15 more

Today it means

noun A large bract that envelops or subtends a whole inflorescence, typically a spadix.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spathe”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek σπάθη. 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 *dʰeh₁- / spathe

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