speight
/speɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.45 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A surname.
Etymology
From late Northern Middle English specht (“woodpecker”), from Old English *spiht, *speoht, from Proto-West Germanic *spiht, *speht, from Proto-Germanic *spihtaz, *spehtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“a kind of bird, woodpecker, magpie”). Traditionally considered to be borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, but this is rendered problematic by the mention of Spehtesberie in Domesday (Middle English Speghtesbury, Spettesbury; modern Spettisbury). Compare Dutch specht (“woodpecker”), German Specht (“woodpecker”), Danish spætte (“woodpecker”), Latin pīcus (“woodpecker”). Displaced by woodpecker.
Origin
- Source language: Old English