Spite
/spaɪt/noun
Malice or petty ill will toward someone.
Did you know?In Middle English, spite was tied to contempt and mockery, and its history is tangled with words for sharp, hostile feeling rather than simple annoyance.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*spei-
“to be sharp, to sting”
Latin
Latin
spīrāre?
“Not a true ancestor; no established direct Latin source for English spite”
Old French
Old French
despit
“contempt, scorn, offense”
Middle English
English
spite
“contempt, offense, malice”
Modern English
English
spite
“malicious or petty ill will”
Explore more surprising origins