ᛋᛒᛡ
Proto-Norse
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *spahō, either as a feminine noun meaning 'prophecy, prediction', or as an inflected form of Proto-Germanic *spahōną, 'I predict, I foresee'. Since the Old Norse verb spá can take the genitive, it can not be said which this word is. Ultimately, however, the word is derived from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ('to look').
A more primitive Scandinavian form should have been *spahu. In its attested form, the word is young enough to have undergone loss of medial /-h-/, as well as syncope, and possibly even u-umlaut /a/ > /ǫ/.
Noun
ᛋᛒᛡ (sbA spā) f
- prediction, prophecy
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
- ᚢᚦᛡᚱᛡᛒᛡᛋᛒᛡ
uþArAbAsbA- ūþarᵃβa spā
- [a] prophecy of misfortune
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
Descendants
- Old Norse: spá
- Icelandic: spá
Verb
ᛋᛒᛡ (sbA spā)
- I predict, I foretell
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
- ᚢᚦᛡᚱᛡᛒᛡᛋᛒᛡ
uþArAbAsbA- ūþarᵃβa spā
- I predict misfortune
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
Descendants
- Old Norse: spá
- Icelandic: spá
- Norwegian Nynorsk: spå
- Old Swedish: spā
- Swedish: spå
- Old Danish: spaa
- Danish: spå
- Northern → Middle English: spā
- Scots: spae