sper- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:	sper-
DEFINITION:	To strew. Derivatives include sprawl, sperm¹, and sporadic. I. Zero-grade form spr-. 1. sprawl, from Old English sprawlian,* to sprawl, from Germanic spr-. 2. Extended form spreud-. a. sprout, from Old English -sprtan, to sprout (only in -sprtan, to sprout forth); b. spritz, spritzer, from Middle High German sprützen, to spurt, spray; c. sprit, from Old English sprot, pole (< “sprout, stem”); d. bowsprit, from Middle Low German bchsprt, bowsprit. a–d all from Germanic sprt-. 3. Extended form spreit-. spray², spread, from Old English -sprdan, to spread, from Germanic spraidjan. II.* Basic form sper-. 1. Suffixed form sper-yo-. Diaspora, from Greek speirein, to scatter, with derivative spor, a scattering, sowing (see III. 1.). 2. Suffixed form sper-m. sperm¹, from Greek sperma,* sperm, seed (< “that which is scattered”). III. O-grade form spor-. 1. Suffixed form spor--. spore, sporo-; exosporium, from Greek spor, a sowing, seed. 2. Suffixed form spor-d-. sporadic, from Greek sporas* (stem sporad-), scattered, dispersed. IV. Extended Germanic root spr(w)-. spray¹, from Middle Dutch spraeien,* sprayen, to sprinkle, from Germanic sprwjan. (Pokorny 2. (s)p(h)er-* 993.)


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.