English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English espiaille, from Old French espier (to watch).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ɪˈspaɪ.əl/, /ɛˈspaɪ.əl/
  • (file)

Noun edit

espial (countable and uncountable, plural espials)

  1. An act of noticing or observing.
    Synonym: (obsolete) espy
    • 1814, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in The Corsair, a Tale, London: [] Thomas Davison, [], for John Murray, [], →OCLC, stanza XVII, page 30, lines 597–600:
      Secure—unnoted—Conrad's prow pass'd by, / And anchor'd where his ambush meant to lie; / Screen'd from espial by the jutting cape, / That rears on high its rude fantastic shape.
    • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. [], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, [], →OCLC, page 232:
      She had, however, the comfort of knowing that her lady's wardrobe was in her power, but it did not avail her much, as the servants of the house were so shocked at the Frenchwoman's refusal to nurse her sick lady, that every eye was upon her in the way of espial and condemnation; []
  2. The fact of noticing or observing; a discovery.
  3. (obsolete) A scout; a spy.
    Synonym: (obsolete) espy

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