spy

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /spaɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #2495

Meanings

1

noun
A person who secretly collects information about an enemy country, company, or person.

The spy passed secret documents to the enemy.
2

verb
To secretly watch someone in order to find out information.

He was caught spying on his neighbours.
3

verb
To suddenly notice or catch sight of something.

I spied my friend across the crowded room.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who secretly... intelligencerundercover agent

2 verb · to secretly watch someone... stag

3 verb · to suddenly notice or catch... espy

More espial ghost spookundie

Word family

Forms spiedspiesspying

Derived forms antispybespyco-spycounterspycyberspyhi-spy-hioutspyspierspy-fispy-hopspy-hoppingspyboat

Related forms spyglassspyware

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

spy satellite
a satellite equipped with sensors to collect intelligence, including signs of nuclear explosions

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Spy is recorded from the Middle English period and is based on Latin specere, “to look,” or the related verb spectare.

Etymology

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek…

*speḱ- Proto-Indo-European spien Middle English espier Old French *spehōn frk *spehōną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# spy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /spaɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 2495

## Meanings
1. A person who secretly collects information about an enemy country, company, or person.
2. To secretly watch someone in order to find out information.
3. To suddenly notice or catch sight of something.

## Examples
- The spy passed secret documents to the enemy.
- He was caught spying on his neighbours.
- I spied my friend across the crowded room.

## Synonyms
- espial
- espy
- ghost
- intelligencer
- spook
- undie

## Derived Forms
- antispy
- bespy
- co-spy
- counterspy
- cyberspy
- hi-spy-hi
- outspy
- spier
- spy-fi
- spy-hop
- spy-hopping
- spyboat

## Related Forms
- spyglass
- spyware

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *speḱ-
- Root: spien
- Root: espier
- Root: *spehōn
- Root: *spehōną

## Etymology
From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek…

## AI Etymology
Spy is from Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown

spy