Etymograph

English

speech

Speech comes from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ ‘speech, language’, from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spereg- ‘to make a sound’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spereg-1‘to make a sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sprākī1‘talkative; speaking’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sprāku1‘speech, language’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sprǣċ1‘speech, language’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150spǣċ1‘speech’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500speche1‘speaking, speech’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1542speech1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English speech
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1542, Andrew Boorde: “The speche of Englande is a base speche to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spereg-Wiktionary, English speech‘to make a sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sprākīWiktionary, English speech‘talkative; speaking’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sprākuWiktionary, English speech‘speech, language’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sprǣċWiktionary, English speech‘speech, language’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150spǣċWiktionary, English speech‘speech’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500specheWiktionary, English speech‘speaking, speech’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1542speechWiktionary, English speech. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1542, Andrew Boorde: “The speche of Englande is a base speche to…”

Linked words

through Old English sprǣċ

spoke, 1 more

through Old English spǣċ ‘speech, discourse, language’

2 more

Today it means

noun The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “speech”. 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 *spereg- / speech

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