Etymograph

English

spotto

Likely a compound of spot + yellow, or possibly a compound of spot + -o; exact origin unclear.

A compound of spot + yellow

Middle Dutch spotte ‘spot’

Middle English spot

English spot

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

…

Proto-Germanic *gelwaz ‘yellow’

Proto-West Germanic *gelu ‘yellow’

Old English ġeolu ‘yellow’

Middle English yelwe

English yellow

Today it means

noun a car game in which players try and spot yellow cars, especially popular among Australian children

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spotto”. 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 / spotto