Word: espy Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English aspien, espien (“to make covert observations of (a person or place) with hostile intent, to spy on; to seek to discover by spying; to act as a spy; to catch sight of, see; to look over, observe; to wait in ambush, to ambush; to plot against; to look for, seek to find; to inquire or look into, investigate; to discover, find”) [and other forms], from Old French espier (“to watch”) (modern French épier (“to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for”)), from Vulgar Latin *spiāre, from Frankish *spehōn (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, observe, see”). Doublet of spy. Cognates * Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to examine; to look at; to consider, think”) * Italian spiare * Latin speciō (“to look at, observe, watch”) * Old High German spehōn (modern German spähen) * Occitan espiar * Spanish espiar Pronunciation: /ɪˈspaɪ/, /ɛ-/, /əˈspaɪ/ 1. To find out or observe (someone or something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking; to catch sight of; to see; to spot. Labels: transitive Example: to espy land to espy a man in a crowd Example: No wyse man entreth in to a gardein but he sone espiethe good herbes from nettiles, and treadeth the nettiles under his feete whiles he gadreth good herbes. 2. To see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly. Labels: transitive Example: […] I chaunced to eſpie thys foraſyde Peter talkynge wyth a certeyne ſtraunger a man well ſtryken in age wyth a blake sonne burned face, a longe bearde and a cloke catſe homely about hys ſhoulders, whom by hys fauour & apparrel forthwythe I iudged to be a maryner. Example: Come on my Lords the better foot before, / Straight vvill I bring you to the lothſome pit, / VVhere I eſpied the Panther faſt a ſleepe. 3. To observe (someone or something) as a spy; also, to examine or observe (someone or something) carefully; or to look out or watch for. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: Remember the subtyle worldly wyse Counsellours of Hāmon, the sonne of Naas, king of the Amonites, which when Dauid had sent hys seruauntes to comfort the yong kyng, for the death of hys father, by craftye imaginacions counselled Hāmon not alonely not to receiue them gently, but to entreate them most shamefullye and cruellye, sayinge that they came not to comforte hym, but to espye and search hys lande, so that afterward they brynging Dauid woorde howe euerye thynge stoode, Dauid myghte come and conquer it. Example: Novv queſtion me no more vve are eſpied, / Here comes a parcell of our hopefull bootie, / VVhich dreads not yet their liues deſtruction. 4. To become aware of (a fact, information, etc.). Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: If being the Commander of an army, thou eſpieſt a groſſe and manifeſt error in thine Enemy, look vvell to thy ſelfe, for treachery is not farre off: Hee vvhom deſire of victory binds too much, is apt to ſtumble at his ovvne Ruine. Example: VVhat faults ſoever Thou eſpieſt here, / Fall to, and make thee merry vvith the Cheer. 5. To observe as a spy, to spy; also, to examine or observe carefully; or to look out or watch. Labels: archaic, intransitive Example: O inhabitant of Aroer, ſtand by the way, and eſpie; aſke him that fleeth, and her that eſcapeth, and ſay, VVhat is done? Example: [H]eedful be his eye, / And firm his step, who on the dark edge [of a peak] stands / Beneath the cloud, and downward dares espy.