MarcusBennevall/EtymologyTaggerDataset huggingface dataset:
fiddle
From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, trousers, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela).
The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare Bedlam, staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).
fiddler
From Middle English fithelere, from Old English fiþelere, from *fiþele. By surface analysis, fiddl(e) + -er.
* (capstan-house): So called because the fiddle would sometimes be played to cheer the sailors working there.
svelte
From French svelte, from Italian svelto (“stretched out”), past participle of svellere (“to pluck out, root out”), from Vulgar Latin *exvellere, from ex + vellere (“to pluck, stretch”).
treacher
From Middle English trecher, from Old French trecheor (modern tricheur), from trechier, tricher (“to cheat, trick”). Compare English trick.
phonetic
Borrowed from Latin phōnēticus, from Ancient Greek φωνητῐκός (phōnētĭkós). By surface analysis, phone + -etic.
schlepper
Borrowed from Yiddish שלעפּער (shleper).
resort
From Middle English resorten, from Old French resortir (“to fall back, return, resort, have recourse, appeal”), back-formation from sortir (“to go out”).
From French ressort.
tantamount
First attested in English in 1628. Either inherited from an unattested Middle English borrowing from Anglo-Norman tant amount, from amunter, from tant (“as much”) amonter (“to amount to”) or borrowed in the early 17th century from Italian tanto montare (“to amount to as much”).
yaar
From Hindustani یار (yār) / यार (yār), from Classical Persian یار (yār).
redundant
From Latin redundāns, present participle of redundō (“to overflow, redound”), from red- (“again, back”) + undō (“to surge, flood”), from unda (“a wave”).
polo
From Balti پولو (polo, “ball”). Cognate with Tibetan པོ་ལོ (po lo), ཕོ་ལོང (pho long), སྤོ་ལོ (spo lo, “ball”).
From Spanish, an air or popular song in Andalusia.
From the game marco polo, from the explorer Marco Polo, from Latin Paulus.
From Marco Polo, from Latin Marcus Paulus, from Paulus.
From Italian Polo and Spanish Polo.
womanish
From Middle English wommanyssh. Equivalent to woman + -ish. The verb is from the adjective.
pela
From informal romanization of Chinese 白蠟 /白蜡 (báilà).
magnet
Etymology tree
Old French magnetebor.
Ancient Greek Μάγνης (Mágnēs)
Ancient Greek μᾰ́γνης (mắgnēs)bor.
Latin magnēsbor.
Middle English magnete
English magnet
From Middle English magnete, via Old French magnete, Latin magnēs, magnētem (“lodestone”), from Ancient Greek μαγνῆτις [λίθος] (magnêtis [líthos], “Magnesian [stone]”), either after the Lydian city Magnesia ad Sipylum (modern-day Manisa, Turkey), or after the Greek region of Μαγνησία (Magnēsía) (whence came the colonists who founded the city in Lydia). Related to manganese, magnesia and magnesium.
sharpen
From Middle English scharpenen, scharpnen, equivalent to sharp + -en.
deduct
Borrowed from Latin deductus, perfect passive participle of verb deducere (“lead from”).
savant
Borrowed from French savant, from Latin sapiō. Doublet of sapient. Sense 3 is a clipping of idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.
faux pas
Unadapted borrowing from French faux pas (“faux pas, blunder; misstep, false step”).
catapult
From Middle French catapulte, from Latin catapulta, from Ancient Greek καταπέλτης (katapéltēs), from κατά (katá, “downwards, into, against”) + πάλλω (pállō, “to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown”). Doublet of catapulta.
bounty
From Middle English bounte (“goodness, virtue; beauty; strength; chivalry, valour; excellence; kindness, mercy; good deed; generosity”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman bounté and Old French bonté, bontet, bunté (modern French bonté (“goodness, kindness”)), from Latin bonitās.
clay
From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”).
Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German Klei (“clay”), German Klei, Danish klæg (“clay”); compare Ancient Greek γλία (glía), Latin glūten (“glue”) (whence ultimately English glue), Russian глина (glina, “clay”). Related also to clag, clog.
From a Middle English occupational name for a clay worker, or a habitational name, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”).
t'
From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun).
cannabis
Borrowed from Latin cannabis (“hemp”), from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis). See there for more. Doublet of canvas and hemp.
booty
From Middle English buty, botye, bottyne, from Old French butin, botin, from Middle Low German bǖte (“distribution, exchange, loot”), of obscure origin, but related to Middle High German biute, German Beute (“booty”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Celtic *boudi (“profit, gains; victory”). Sense perhaps influenced by boot (as in to boot).
Islamism
Etymology tree
French islamismebor.
English Islamism
Appearing in English in the 1740s, from French islamisme (1720s), paralleling the French christianisme and judaïsme. By surface analysis, Islam + -ism.
principal
From Middle English principal, from Old French principal, from Latin prīncipālis.
Hera
Borrowed from Latin Hēra, from Ancient Greek Ἥρᾱ (Hḗrā).
tributary
PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English tributarie (“paying tribute”), from Latin tribūtārius, from tribūtum (“tribute”).
bint
Borrowed from Arabic بِنْت (bint, “girl, daughter”), from Proto-Semitic *bint-, used to denote a patronym.
The term entered the British lexicon during the occupation of Egypt at the end of the 19th century, where it was adopted by British soldiers to mean "girlfriend" or "bit on the side". Its register varies from that of the harsher bitch to being affectionate, the latter more commonly associated with the West Midlands. The term was used in British armed forces and the London area synonymously with bird in its slang usage (and sometimes brass) from at least the 1950s. (In the Tyneside shipping industry, particularly in Laygate, in South Shields, the term may have been adopted earlier, from the Yemeni community which had existed there since the 1890s.)
specious
From Middle English speciose, specious, from Anglo-Norman specious, Middle French specieux, and their etymon Latin speciōsus (“good-looking”).
simulation
First attested in 1340 as Middle English symulacioun, from Middle French simulation, from Old French simulation/simulacion, from Latin simulātiōnem, from simulō (“imitate”). Morphologically simulate + -ion.
embryophagy
From Latin embryo and the suffix -phagy (“to feed on”); 1948; created to describe the behavior of sandtiger shark embryos.
midget
From midge (chiefly in the figurative sense of “small thing”, literally “small fly”) + -et (diminutive suffix), (from Old English myċġ (“mosquito”), from Proto-Germanic *mugjō, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mu-, *mew-; cognate with Dutch mug (“mosquito”) and German Mücke (“midge, gnat”)).
dwarf
From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz.
Cognate with Scots droich, dwerch (“dwarf, midget”); Old High German twerc (German, Luxembourgish Zwerg (“dwarf”)); Old Norse dvergr (Danish dværg (“dwarf, midget”), Faroese dvørgur (“dwarf”), Icelandic dvergur (“dwarf”), Norwegian Bokmål dverg (“dwarf”), Norwegian Nynorsk dverg, verg (“dwarf”), Swedish dvärg (“dwarf”)); Old Frisian dwirg (Saterland Frisian Dwärch (“dwarf”), West Frisian dwerch (“dwarf”)); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg (“dwarf”)); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg (“dwarf”)).
The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English dweorg, but the plural dweorgas would have given rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge- would have led to dwery. These forms are sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects. A parallel case is that of Old English burg giving burgh, borough, burrow, bury.
fetid
Etymology tree
Latin fēteō
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.
Proto-Italic *-iðos
Latin -idus
Latin fētidusbor.
English fetid
Borrowed from Latin fētidus (“having offensive odour”), originally fēteō (“to stink”).
leu
Borrowed from Romanian leu (“lion”), from Latin leō (“lion”). Doublet of Leo, lev, lion, and Lyon.
ark
From Middle English arke, from Old English earc, ærc, from Latin arca (“chest, box, coffer”), from arceō (“to enclose”).
behead
From Middle English beheden, bihefden, biheveden, from Old English behēafdian (“to behead”), equivalent to be- (“off, away”) + head.
curt
From the Latin curtus (“shortened”). Cognate with Dutch kort, German kurz, Galician curto, French court, Italian corto, Portuguese curto, and Spanish corto. Doublet of short.
yen
From Medhurst and Hepburn’s romanizations, under the influence of earlier Portuguese romanizations, of Japanese 圓(えん) (en, “round; a round object”) as ye or yen, now 円(えん) (en), from Chinese 銀圓 /银圆 (yínyuán, “round silver object(s), especially a piece of eight”): 銀 /银 (yín, “silver”) + 圓 /圆 (yuán, “circular, round; yuan, yen, dollar”). Cognate with Chinese 元 (yuán, “monetary unit, especially RMB”) and Korean 원 (won, “North or South Korean won”). Doublet of won and yuan.
Origin uncertain, but probably from Cantonese 癮 /瘾 (jan⁵, “craving”) originally in reference to opium addiction, 煙癮 /烟瘾 (jin¹ jan⁵) or 菸癮 /烟瘾 (jin¹ jan⁵): 煙 /烟 (jin¹), 菸 /烟 (jin¹, “smoke, specifically opium”). Compare the later yen (“opium”) and yen-yen.
From Mandarin 煙 /烟 (yān), 菸 /烟 (yān), or Cantonese 煙 /烟 (jin¹), 菸 /烟 (jin¹, “smoke, specifically opium”). Compare the earlier yen (“strong desire”) and later yen-yen.
From Mandarin 燕 (Yān), reinforced by Wade-Giles romanization: Yen¹.
stoned
From Middle English stoned (simple past) and stoned, istoned (past participle), equivalent to stone + -ed.
The etymology for the sense of "exhilarated, intoxicated by substances", which originated in American English in the mid-20th century, is not fully clear. It could be derived from stone drunk, a common slang expression from the mid-19th to early-20th century. It is more frequently theorized to be a phono-semantic matching of Italian-American slang stunod (“dazzled, stupid”), from Italian stonato (“out of tune, off-key”). In 1952, Life Magazine listed it in a glossary of bop musician slang, in the sense of "drunk, captivated, ecstatic, sent out of this world" (see quote). This could lend further credence to the idea of the word originating from a musical term.
pontoon
Borrowed from Middle French ponton, from Old French ponton, from Latin pontō, pontōnem (“ferryboat”), from pōns (“bridge”).
Probably from vingt-un, an obsolete variant of vingt-et-un (“twenty-one”), from French.
dilatory
From Middle English dilatorie, from Old French dilatoire, from Latin dīlātōrius (“extending or putting off (time)”), from dīlātor, from differō. Not etymologically related to delay.
honorificabilitudinitatibus
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin honōrificābilitūdinitātibus, the ablative and dative plural of honōrificābilitūdinitās (“the state of being able to achieve honours”).
adelphophagy
From Ancient Greek ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother”) and the suffix -φαγία (-phagía), combining form of φαγεῖν (phageîn, “to eat”). By surface analysis, adelpho- + -phagy.
corset
From Middle English corset, from Old French corset. Equivalent to corse + -et.
oophagy
From oo- + -phagy, originally after German Oophagie.
cathexis
From Ancient Greek κάθεξις (káthexis, “holding, retention”). The term entered the English language as a translation for the common everyday German word Besetzung, which in the context of psychoanalysis means "occupation" in the sense of a position or something being occupied or filled, and not a military occupation of a place or the filling of job positions (although it can also mean either of these in other contexts). (In English translations, a Greek word was used to be more scientific.)
mantra
Borrowed from Sanskrit मन्त्र (mantra), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mántras, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”). Related to mind.
flounce
Probably of North Germanic origin, from Norwegian flunsa (“hurry”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Or, perhaps formed on the pattern of pounce, bounce.
pygmy
From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”).
recalcitrant
Borrowed from French récalcitrant, from Latin recalcitrāns, recalcitrantis, present participle of recalcitrō, recalcitrāre (“be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]”), from calx (“heel”), 1820s.
cooperation
First attested in 1620–1630. Borrowed from French cooperation, from Late Latin cooperātiō. By surface analysis, co- + operation or cooperate + -ion.
contort
Equivalent to con- + -tort; from Middle English, borrowed from Latin contortus, past participle of contorqueō, from com- + torqueō (“twist, turn”).
client
From Middle English client, from Anglo-Norman clyent, Old French client, from Latin cliēns, akin to clinare (“to lean”).
peasant
From Late Middle English paissaunt, from Anglo-Norman paisant, from Old French païsant, païsan (“countryman, peasant”), from païs (“country”), from Latin pāgus (“countryside”) + Old French -enc (“member of”), from Frankish -inc, -ing "-ing"; which was an alteration of earlier Late Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”). Doublet of paisano.
Via Latin pāgus cognate with pagan (compare typologically, see there for more).
obfuscation
From Middle English obfuscacioun, from Latin obfuscātiō, obfuscātiōnem, from obfuscāre (“to darken”), from ob (“over”) + fuscāre (“to make dark”), from fuscus (“dark”).
Aramaic
From Latin Aramaicus, from Ancient Greek Ἀραμαϊκός (Aramaïkós), itself a calque of Aramaic ܐܪܡܝܐ / אָרָמָיָא (ʾārāmāyā, “Aramean”) using Ἀράμ f (Arám, “Aram”, the name of a land originally covering central regions of what is now Syria) (from Aramaic ܐܪܡ / ארם (ʾarām)) + -ικός (-ikós, adjective suffix) (compare with Ἀραμαῖος (Aramaîos, “Aramean”), and the latter with Χαναναῖος (Khananaîos, “Chananean”), from Χαναάν f (Khanaán, “Canaan”) + -αῖος (-aîos)). By surface analysis, Aram + -ic.
glabrous
From Latin glaber (“smooth; bald, hairless”) + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives, denoting possession or presence of a quality in any degree, commonly in abundance). Glaber is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *gʰleh₂dʰ- (“smooth; bright, shining”), possibly from *ǵʰelh₂- (“to shine”).
salient
The heraldic sense “leaping” and the sense “projecting outward” are borrowed from Latin salientem, the accusative form of saliēns (“springing, leaping”), present participle of saliō (“leap, spring”, verb). The senses “prominent” and “pertinent” are relatively recent, and derive from the phrase salient point, which is a calque of the Latin punctum saliēns, a translation of Aristotle's term for the embryonal heart visible in (opened) eggs, which he thought seemed to move already. Compare also the German calque der springende Punkt.
astonish
Probably an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, astun (“to astonish, stun”), from Middle English astoneyen, astonen (“to stun, astonish”), variant of stonen, stoneyen (“to stun, astonish”) prefixed with a-. However, compare Old French estonir, a rare variant of estoner (“to stun, astonish”).
serf
From Middle English serf, from Old French serf, from Latin servus (“slave, serf, servant”).
pastor
From Middle English pastour, from Old French pastor (Modern French pasteur), from Latin pāstor.
ignoble
Borrowed from Middle French ignoble, from Latin ignōbilis, from in- (“not”) + gnōbilis, later nōbilis (“noble”).
yakka
From Yagara yaga (“work”).
From Punjabi ਯੱਕਾ (yakkā), usually referring to an ace (a type of playing card) or a horse-drawn cart, but can also be translated into the English expletive fuck. However, the slang usage of the term is said to be a corruption of Yankee.
khamsin
From Egyptian Arabic خَمْسِين (ḵamsīn, “fifty”); see khamaseen for more.
tavla
From Turkish tavla, from Italian tavola, from Latin tabula. Doublet of table and tabula.
ribald
From Middle English ribald, from Old French ribaud, ribauld (“rogue, scoundrel”) ( > English ribaud), from Old French riber (“to be licentious”), from Frankish *rīban (“to copulate, be in heat”, literally “to rub”), from Proto-Germanic *wrībaną (“to turn, twist, writhe”), from Proto-Indo-European *werp-, *werb- (“to turn, twist”) + Old French -aud, from Frankish *-wald.
Related to Old High German rīban (“to rub”), German reiben (“to rub”), Dutch wrijven (“to rub”). Compare also Old High German hrība (“prostitute”). See also English wrap.
recede
Inherited from Middle English receden, from Middle French receder and its etymon Latin recedere (“to withdraw; to go back”), from re- + cedere (“to go”).
meditation
From Old French meditacion, from Latin meditatio, from meditatus, the past participle of meditārī (“to meditate, to think over, consider”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure, limit, consider, advise”).
meditate
First attested in 1560; borrowed from Latin meditātus, perfect active participle of meditor (“to think or reflect upon, consider, design, purpose, intend”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), morphologically as if frequentative of medeor (“to heal, to cure, to remedy”); in sense and in form near to Ancient Greek μελετάω (meletáō, “to care for, attend to, study, practise, etc.”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
weaver
From Middle English wevere, wever, from Old English *wefere, *wifre, *wæfre (“weaver”, in compounds), from Proto-West Germanic *webārī. By surface analysis, weave + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Weeuwer (“weaver”), Dutch wever (“weaver”), German Low German Wever (“weaver”), German Weber (“weaver”), Swedish vävare (“weaver”), Icelandic vefari (“weaver”).
prank
Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English pranken (“to adorn, arrange one's attire”), probably from Middle Dutch pronken, proncken (“to flaunt, make a show, arrange one's attire”), related to German prangen (“to make a show, be resplendent”), Dutch prangen (“to squeeze, press”), Danish pragt (“pomp, splendor”), all from Proto-Germanic *pranganą, *prangijaną, *prag- (“to press, squeeze, thring”), from Proto-Indo-European *brengʰ- (“to press, squeeze”). Or, perhaps ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *brahtaz, similar to Dutch pracht (“splendor”), Swedish prakt (“glory, pomp”) (loaned from Low German).
Cognate with Middle Low German prunken (“to flaunt”), German prunken (“to flaunt”), Danish prunke (“to make a show, prank”). Sense of "mischievous act" from earlier verbal sense of "to be crafty or subtle, set in order, adjust". See also prink, prance, prong.
malaria
Borrowed from Italian malaria, formed from mal- (“bad”) and aria (“air”). Introduced into English by the Scottish geologist John MacCulloch (1773–1835). Displaced native Old English unlyft (literally “bad air”).
tendon
Borrowed from French tendon or Medieval Latin tendō, from Ancient Greek τένων (ténōn, “sinew, tendon”), modified by association with the verb tendō (“to stretch”). Compare Middle English thenoun.
indignation
From Middle English indignacioun, borrowed from Old French indignation, from Latin indignātiō, from indignor (“to scorn, resent”), from indignus (“unworthy, not fitting”), from in- (“not”) + dignus (“worthy, appropriate”). Attested since ca. 1374. Doublet of indignatio.
abugida
From Ge'ez አቡጊዳ (ʾäbugida). First use appears c. 1961. See cite below.
digraph
From Ancient Greek δίς (dís, “double”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”), equivalent to di- + -graph.
infix
Back-formation from Middle English infixed (“stuck in”), from Latin infixus, past participle of infigō (“to fasten in”).
miserable
Borrowed from Middle French miserable, from Old French, from Latin miserabilis, equivalent to miser + -able.
lesion
From Middle English lesioun, from Old French lesion, from Latin laesiō (“injury”), itself from laesus, perfect passive participle of laedō (“to injure, hurt”).
balm
Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam and desman.
garnet
From Middle English gernet, granate, from Old French grenate, from grenat (“pomegranate red”). Doublet of grenade.
beryl
Inherited from Middle English beryl, from Old French beril, from Latin bērillus, bēryllus, from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”), in turn borrowed from Middle Indic forms like Pali veḷuriya or Prakrit 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑀼𑀮𑀺𑀅 (verulia), from Dravidian, probably named after Velur (modern day Belur) in southern India.
From beryl or an anglicization of Yiddish בערל (berl, literally “little bear”).
excuse
From Middle English excusen (verb) and excuse (noun), borrowed from Old French escuser (verb) and excuse (noun), from Latin excūsō, excūsāre (“to excuse, allege in excuse, literally, free from a charge”), from ex (“out”) + causa (“a charge”); see cause, accuse and recuse. Displaced native Old English lād (“an excuse”) and lādian (“to excuse”).
balrog
From Sindarin, a fictional language created by J.R.R. Tolkien, meaning something akin to "mighty demon".
often
From Middle English often, alteration (with final -n added due to analogy with Middle English selden (“seldom”)) of Middle English ofte, oft, from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-Germanic *ufta, *uftō (“often”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots affen, aften, af'en, oaffen, oaften, oftin (“often”), North Frisian aaft, oftem, oofting (“often”), Saterland Frisian oafte (“often”), German, Luxembourgish and Pennsylvania German oft (“often”), Yiddish אָפֿט (oft, “often”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ofte (“often”), Faroese, Swedish ofta (“often”), Icelandic oft (“often”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌰 (ufta, “often”).
peccary
From Kari'na pakira (“collared peccary”), from Proto-Cariban *pakira.
hormone
Etymology tree
Ancient Greek ὁρμή (hormḗ)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Ancient Greek -ᾰ́ω (-ắō)
Ancient Greek ὁρμῶν (hormôn)lbor.
English hormone
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὁρμῶν (hormôn), present participle of ὁρμάω (hormáō, “to set in motion, to urge on”), from ὁρμή (hormḗ, “rapid motion forwards, onrush, onset, assault, impulse to do a thing, effort”).
spy
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 κατάσκοπος (katáskopos).
Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).