Etymograph

English

spean

Spean comes from Old English spane ‘teat’, from Proto-Germanic *spenô ‘nipple’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn ‘breast’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pstḗn1‘breast’disputed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spenô1‘nipple’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*spanu1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150spane1‘teat’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*spene1reconstructed
  6. Englishtodayspean1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English spean

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pstḗnWiktionary, English spean‘breast’disputed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*spenôWiktionary, English spean‘nipple’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*spanuWiktionary, English speanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150spaneWiktionary, English spean‘teat’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*speneWiktionary, English speanreconstructed
  6. EnglishtodayspeanWiktionary, English spean

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn

Today it means

noun A teat or nipple of a cow.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spean”. 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 *pstḗn / spean

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