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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode^® support, but fonts for only the Unicode 2.0 character set (including combining diacritics). Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: spek̑- 'to watch, inspect, spy on'

Semantic Field: to Look

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Irish:	easbog	n	bishop	ASD
Scots Gaelic:	easbuig	n	bishop	ASD
Welsh:	esgob	n	bishop	ASD
English
Old English:	bisc(e)op/biscep	n.masc	bishop	W7/ASD
Middle English:	aspect	n	aspect	W7
	aspien	vb	to espy, detect, observe	MEV
	bisshop/bis(s)chop/bysshop(p)e	n	bishop	W7/MEV
	circumspect	adj	circumspect	W7
	despisen	vb	to despise	W7
	despite	n	despite	W7
	episcopal	adj	episcopal	W7
	especial	adj	especial	W7
	espien	vb	to espy	W7
	perspective	adj/n	perspective	W7
	prospect	n	prospect	W7
	respect	n	respect	W7
	respit	n	respite	W7
	specious	adj	specious	W7
	spectacle	n	spectacle	W7
	spice	n	spice	W7
	spien	vb	to spy	W7
	spite	n	spite	W7
	suspect	n	suspect	W7
	suspecten	vb	to suspect	W7
English:	aspect	n	position of stars/planets w.r.t. one another	AHD/W7
	auspice	n	observation in augury (flight/feeding of birds)	AHD/W7
	bishop	n	prelate, one having spiritual/ecclesiastical supervision	AHD/W7
	circumspect	adj	prudent, careful to consider circumstances/consequences	AHD/W7
	colposcope	n	endoscope for examining vaginal/cervical tissues	AHD
	colposcopy	n	medical examination using colposcope	AHD
	conspicuous	adj	obvious to eye/mind	AHD/W7
	despicable	adj	deserving to be despised	AHD/W7
	despise	vb.trans	to regard with contempt/aversion	AHD/W7
	despite	n	spite, pique, malice, contempt	W7
	despite	prep	notwithstanding, in spite of	W7
	epidiascope	n	opaque projector	TLL
	episcopal	adj	re: bishop(s)	AHD/W7
	especial	adj	special, particular	AHD/W7
	espionage	n	practice of spying/using spies	AHD/W7
	espy	vb.trans	to catch sight of	AHD/W7
	expect	vb	to stay, wait	AHD/W7
	frontispiece	n	principal front of building	AHD/W7
	horoscope	n	diagram of relative positions of planets in zodiac	AHD/W7
	inspect	vb	to look over, view closely, critically appraise	AHD/W7
	introspect	vb	to examine reflectively	AHD/W7
	periscope	n	instrument using mirrors/prisms to transfer image between different heights	TLL
	perspective	adj	aiding vision	AHD/W7
	perspective	n	optical glass (e.g. in telescope)	AHD/W7
	perspective	n	process/technique of representing spatial relations of objects	AHD/W7
	perspicacious	adj	keen, of acute mental vision/discernment	AHD/W7
	prospect	n	outlook, exposure	AHD/W7
	respect	n	reference, relation to/concern with something	AHD/W7
	respite	n	postponement, temporary delay	AHD/W7
	retrospect	vb	to refer to past event	AHD/W7
	-scope	n.sfx	means/instrument for viewing/observing	AHD/W7
	scope	n	space/opportunity for unhampered thought/motion/activity	AHD/W7
	-scopy	n.sfx	viewing, observation	AHD/W7
	skeptic	n	adherent/advocate of skepticism	AHD/W7
	species	n	individuals having common attributes/designated by common name	AHD/W7
	specimen	n	sample, part/item typical of whole/group	AHD/W7
	specious	adj	showy	AHD/W7
	spectacle	n	something exhibited as notable/unusual/entertaining	AHD/W7
	spectrum	n	array of components separated/arranged in order	AHD/W7
	speculate	vb.intrans	to reflect, ponder/meditate on subject	AHD/W7
	speculum	n	tubular instrument inserted into body passage for inspection/medication	AHD/W7
	spice	n	aromatic vegetable product used to season/flavor food	AHD/W7
	spite	n	hatred, petty ill will	W7
	spy	vb	to scout, watch secretly	AHD/W7
	suspect	adj	suspected, regarded with suspicion	AHD/W7
	suspect	vb	to distrust, have doubts about	AHD/W7
	telescope	n	optical instrument for observing distant objects	AHD/W7
	transpicuous	adj	transparent	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Dutch:	bioscoop	n	cinema	TLL
	bisschop	n	bishop	ASD
	spiegel	n	mirror	TLL
Old Saxon:	biskop	n	bishop	ASD
	spēgal	n	mirror	KSW
Old High German:	piscof	n	bishop	ASD
	spehōn	vb	to spy	W7
	spiegal	n	mirror	KDW
Middle High German:	bischof	n	bishop	ASD
German:	Bischof	n.masc	bishop	ASD
	spähen	vb	to spy, peer	LRC
	Spiegel	n.masc	mirror	TLL
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	biskup	n	bishop	ASD
	spá	n.fem	prophecy, song of fate	LRC
	spegill	n	mirror	KNW
Danish:	bisp	n	bishop	ASD
	spejl	n	mirror	TLL
Swedish:	biskop	n	bishop	ASD
	spegel	n	mirror	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	aipiskaupus	n	bishop	ASD
Italic
Latin:	aspectus	vb.ptc	looked at	W7
	aspicio, aspicere	vb	to look at	W7
	auspex	n	leader, protector, bird augur	AHD
	auspicium, auspicii	n.neut	divination via flight of birds	LRC
	circumspectō, circumspectāre, circumspectāvī, circumspectātum	vb	to look around	LRC
	circumspectus	adj	circumspect	W7
	circumspicio, circumspicere	vb	to look around, be cautious	W7
	cōnspiciō, conspicere, conspēxī, conspectum	vb	to perceive, get sight of	LRC
	conspicuus	adj	conspicuous, visible	W7
	dēspiciō, dēspicere, dēspēxī, dēspectum	vb	to despise, look astray	W7
	despicor, despicari	vb.dep	to despoil, plunder	W7
	exspectō, exspectāre, exspectāvī, exspectātum	vb	to wait for, look forward to	LRC
	horoscopus	n.masc	device to indicate time	W7
	inspectus	vb.ptc	inspected	W7
	inspicio, inspicere	vb	to inspect	W7
	introspectus	vb.ptc	having looked inside	W7
	introspicio, introspicere	vb	to look inside	W7
	perspectus	vb.ptc	looked at through, clearly seen	W7
	perspicax, perspicācis	adj	perspicacious, sharp-sighted	W7
	perspicio, perspicere	vb	to look through, see clearly	W7
	prospectus	n.masc	view, prospect	W7
	prospectus	vb.ptc	foreseen	W7
	prospicio, prospicere	vb	to look forward, exercise foresight	W7
	respectus	n.masc	act of looking back	W7
	respectus	vb.ptc	regarded, looked back at	W7
	respicio, respicere	vb	to look back, regard	W7
	retrospectus	vb.ptc	looked back at	W7
	retrospicio, retrospicere	vb	to look back at	W7
	scepticus	adj	skeptical	W7
	species, speciei	n.fem	aspect, appearance; species	LRC
	specimen	n.neut	model, representative of species	W7
	speciō, specere	vb	to look	W7
	speciosus	adj	beautiful, plausible	W7
	speco, specere	vb	to look at	W7
	spectaculum	n.neut	show, spectacle	W7
	spectō, spectāre, spectāvī, spectātum	vb	to watch, look/gaze at	LRC
	spectrum	n.neut	specter, appearance	W7
	spectus	vb.ptc	looked at	W7
	specula	n.fem	watchtower	W7
	speculatus	vb.ptc	examined	W7
	speculor, speculāri	vb.dep	to examine, spy out	W7
	speculum	n.neut	mirror	W7
	specus, specus	n.masc	cave, pit	LRC
	suspecto, suspectāre	vb	to suspect	W7
	suspectus	vb.ptc	looked at, suspected	W7
	suspico, suspicere	vb	to look at from above	W7
	transpicio, transpicere	vb	to look through	W7
Vulgar Latin:	*ebiscopus	n	bishop	AHD
Late Latin:	despicabilis	adj	despicable	W7
	episcopalis	adj	episcopal	W7
	episcopus	n.masc	bishop	W7
	frontispicium	n.neut	front view, frontispiece	W7
Medieval Latin:	perspectivus	adj	optical, re: sight	W7
	respectus	n.masc	respect	W7
New Latin:	-scopium	sfx	-scope, looking	W7
	spectrum	n.neut	array of components	W7
	tele-scopium	adj	lit. far-seeing	W7
	transpicuus	adj	transparent	W7
Spanish:	especia	n	spice	TLL
	obispo	n	bishop	ASD
Old French:	despire	vb	to despise	W7
	despit	n	despite	W7
	espice	n.fem	spice	W7
	espier	vb	to espy, catch glimpse of	W7
	respit	n.masc	rest	W7
Middle French:	circonspect	adj	circumspect	W7
	espion	n.masc	spy	W7
	espionage	n.masc	espionage	W7
	espionner	vb	to spy	W7
	frontispice	n.masc	frontispiece	W7
	horoscope	n.masc	horoscope	W7
	perspective	n.fem	view, perspective	W7
	spectacle	n.masc	spectacle, magnifying glass	W7
	suspect	adj	suspect	W7
French:	épice	n	spice	TLL
	espionnage	n.masc	activity of spying	W7
Old Italian:	prospettiva	n.fem	technique of representing relations of objects	W7
	prospetto	n.masc	view, prospect	W7
	spione	n.masc	spy	W7
Italian:	dispetto	n.masc	despite	TLL
	scòpo	n.masc	goal, purpose	W7
	vescovo	n	bishop	ASD
Baltic
Lithuanian:	wyskupas	n	bishop	ASD
Albanian
Albanian:	respektim	n.masc	respect	LRC
Hellenic
Homeric Greek:	σκοπός	n.masc	spy, scout, watch(man)	LRC
Attic:	σκοπω̃	vb	to view, look at, consider	LS
Greek:	ἐπί-σκοπος	n.masc	guardian, overseer	LS
	σκεπτικός	adj	watchful, thoughtful, reflective	LS
	σκέπτομαι	vb	to look out/about/carefully	LS
	-skopion	afx	observation, examination	W7
	τηλε-σκόπος	adj	lit. far-seeing	LS
	hōro-skopos	n.masc	device to indicate time	W7
Armenian
Armenian:	eskop	n	bishop	ASD

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
adj	=	adjective
afx	=	affix
dep	=	deponent
fem	=	feminine (gender)
intrans	=	intransitive
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
prep	=	preposition
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
KDW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 4th ed. (1993)
KNW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003)
KSW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed. (2000)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
MEV	=	J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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