Etymograph

English

speld

Speld comes from Old English speld ‘a splinter’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- ‘to split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pel-1‘to split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*speldą1‘splinter, board’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150speld1‘a splinter’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500speld1
  5. Englishtodayspeld1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English speld

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pel-Wiktionary, English speld‘to split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*speldąWiktionary, English speld‘splinter, board’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150speldWiktionary, English speld‘a splinter’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500speldWiktionary, English speld
  5. EnglishtodayspeldWiktionary, English speld

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- ‘to split’

spill, spoil, spell, spool, 10 more

Today it means

noun A chip of wood; a splinter.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “speld”. 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 *(s)pel- / speld

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