Advertisement

Origin and history of espionage

espionage(n.)

1793, from French espionnage "spying," from espionner "to spy," from espion "a spy" (16c.), probably via Old Italian spione from a Germanic source akin to Old High German spehon "to spy" (see spy (v.)). For initial e- see e-. Middle English had espiouress "female spy" (early 15c.).

also from 1793

Entries linking to espionage

spy(v.)

mid-13c., spien, "to watch stealthily," from Old French espiier "observe, watch closely, spy on, find out," probably from Frankish *spehon or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *spehon- (source also of Old High German *spehon "to look out for, scout, spy," German spähen "to spy," Middle Dutch spien). These are the Germanic survivals of the productive PIE root *spek- "to observe."

Old English had spyrian "make a track, go, pursue; ask about, investigate," also a noun spyrigend "investigator, inquirer." Italian spiare, Spanish espiar also are Germanic loan-words.

The meaning "catch sight of, discover at a distance or from a place of concealment" is from c. 1300. The intransitive meaning "play the spy, conduct surveillance" is from mid-15c. The children's game I spy was so called by 1946.

e-

the later Romans evidently found words beginning in sc-, sp-, st- difficult or unpleasant to pronounce; in Late Latin forms begin to emerge in i- (such as ispatium, ispiritu), and from 5c. this shifted to e-. The development was carried into the Romanic languages, especially Old French, and the French words were modified further after 15c. by natural loss of -s- (the suppression being marked by an acute accent on the e-), while in other cases the word was formally corrected back to the Latin spelling (for example spécial). Hence French état for Old French estat for Latin status, etc. It also affected Romanic borrowings from Germanic (such as espy, eschew).

A different e- is a reduced form of Latin ex- before consonants (see ex-), and the e- in enough is an unfelt survival of an Old English alternative form of ge-.

*spek-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to observe."

It might form all or part of: aspect; auspex; auspices; auspicious; bishop; circumspect; conspicuous; despicable; despise; episcopal; especial; espionage; espy; expect; frontispiece; gyroscope; haruspex; horoscope; inspect; inspection; inspector; introspect; introspection; perspective; perspicacious; perspicacity; prospect; prospective; respect; respite; retrospect; scope; -scope; scopophilia; -scopy; skeptic; species; specimen; specious; spectacle; spectacular; spectrum; speculate; speculation; speculum; spice; spy; suspect; suspicion; suspicious; telescope.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit spasati "sees;" Avestan spasyeiti "spies;" Greek skopein "behold, look, consider," skeptesthai "to look at," skopos "watcher, one who watches;" Latin specere "to look at;" Old High German spehhon "to spy," German spähen "to spy."

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    mole
    The espionage sense of "secret agent who gradually attains a position deep within organization or nation" was popularized...
    orient
    Orient Express was a train that ran from Paris to Istanbul via Vienna 1883-1961, from the start it was associated with espionage...
    inside
    is from 1911 (originally in reference to workers used by management to sniff out union activity); inside job "robbery, espionage...
    ring
    of persons interested in attaining some object" is from 1829, originally commercial or political, latter in reference to espionage...
    saloon
    1728, an Englished or otherwise deformed variant of salon (q.v.), and originally meaning the same, "spacious room set apart for reception of company or artistic display." The specific sense of "large hall in a public place for entertainment or amusement" is from 1747; especially
    patriot
    1590s, "compatriot," from French patriote (15c.) and directly from Late Latin patriota "fellow-countryman" (6c.), from Greek patriotes "fellow countryman," from patrios "of one's fathers," patris "fatherland," from pater (genitive patros) "father" (see father (n.)); with -otes, s
    meticulous
    1530s, "fearful, timid," a sense now obsolete, from Latin meticulosus, metuculosus "fearful, timid," literally "full of fear," from metus "fear, dread, apprehension, anxiety," a word of unknown origin. The old word seems to have become archaic after c. 1700, fossilized in a passa
    citizen
    c. 1300, citisein (fem. citeseine) "inhabitant of a city or town," from Anglo-French citesein, citezein "city-dweller, town-dweller, citizen" (Old French citeien, 12c., Modern French citoyen), from cite (see city) + -ain (see -ian). According to Middle English Compendium, the -s-
    discriminate
    1620s, "distinguish from something else or from each other, observe or mark the differences between," from Latin discriminatus, past participle of discriminare "to divide, separate," from discrimen (genitive discriminis) "interval, distinction, difference," derived noun from disc
    defiance
    c. 1300, defiaunce, "a challenge to fight, invitation to combat," from Old French desfiance "challenge, declaration of war," from desfiant, present participle of desfier "to challenge, defy, provoke; renounce (a belief), repudiate (a vow, etc.)," from Vulgar Latin *disfidare "ren

    Share espionage

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near espionage
    Advertisement