spae
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Verb edit
spae (third-person singular simple present spaes, present participle spaeing, simple past and past participle spaed)
- (Scotland) To divine; foretell.
- 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 242:
- A mermaid from the water rose,
And spaed Sir Sinclair ill.
Derived terms edit
Anagrams edit
Scots edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Northern Middle English spā, from Old Norse spá (“to foretell, prophesy”), from Proto-Germanic *spahōną, *spehōną (“to observe”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål spå.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
spae (third-person singular simple present spaes, present participle spaein, simple past spaed, past participle spaed)
Derived terms edit
- spae-craft (“the art of predicting the future”)
- spaedom (“prophecy, fortunetelling”)
- spae-folk (“sorcerers, wizards”)
- spaeman (“fortuneteller, diviner, prophet”)
- spaer (“fortuneteller, soothsayer”)
- spae-trade (“the practice of fortune-telling, prophecy”)
- spae-wark (“prognosticating, prophesying, soothsaying”)
- spaewife (“female fortuneteller”)
- spae-woman (“female fortuneteller”)