Etymograph

English

spend

Spend comes from Middle English spenden ‘to spend’, from Latin expendō ‘to weigh’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to stretch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pend-1‘to stretch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)péndeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendō1‘to hang’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendō1‘to weigh’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpendō1‘to weigh’
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*spendōn1‘to spend’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150spendan1‘to spend’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spenden1‘to spend’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1603spend1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English spend
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes: “their bodies spent with long labour and thirst”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)pend-Wiktionary, English spend‘to stretch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)péndetiWiktionary, English spendreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pendōWiktionary, English spend‘to hang’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpendōWiktionary, English spend‘to weigh’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpendōWiktionary, English spend‘to weigh’
  6. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*spendōnWiktionary, English spend‘to spend’reconstructed
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150spendanWiktionary, English spend‘to spend’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spendenWiktionary, English spend‘to spend’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1603spendWiktionary, English spend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes: “their bodies spent with long labour and thirst”

The story

From Middle English spenden, from Old English spendan (attested especially in compounds āspendan (‘to spend’), forspendan (‘to use up, consume’)), from Proto-West Germanic *spendōn (‘to spend’), borrowed from Latin expendere (‘to weigh out’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- ‘to stretch’

pound, span, depend, poise, pansy, pendant, pensive, 18 more

through Proto-Italic *pendō ‘to hang, put in a hanging position’

suspension, 14 more

through Latin pendō ‘to weigh, weigh out’

compensation, pension, compensate, penthouse, appendix, perpendicular, peso, compendium, dispensation, piso, recompense, append, 14 more

through Latin expendō ‘to weigh’

expensive, expense, expenditure, expend, 5 more

Today it means

verb To pay out (money).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spend”. 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)pend- / spend

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