Spittle
/ˈspɪt.əl/noun
Saliva that is spat or dribbled from the mouth.
Did you know?In Old English, related forms of this root were used for saliva and spitting, showing how often everyday words began as blunt physical actions before becoming ordinary vocabulary.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*spei-
“to spit, to spew”
Old English
OE
spittan
“to spit”
Old English
OE
spyttel
“spittle, saliva”
Middle English
ME
spitel
“spittle, saliva”
Modern English
English
spittle
“saliva that is spat or dribbled from the mouth”