Spae
/speɪ/noun
To foretell or divine; to prophesy.
Did you know?Spae is an old Scots verb tied to divination, and its nearest kin includes Germanic words for “telling” and “speech,” showing how prophecy and language were once deeply linked.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*spēhaną
“to spy out, observe, scrutinize”
Old English
OE
specan / spā
“to speak; to foretell, divine”
Old Norse
ON
spá
“prophecy; to foretell”
Middle Scots
Scots
spae
“to foretell, divine”
Modern English
English
spae
“to predict or foretell, especially by supernatural means”