spic

See also: spíc, špic, and spić

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

First attested in this spelling in the 1910s, from earlier spig, spiggoty, spikity, generally taken to derive from a (stereotype of a) Hispanic pronunciation of "(no) speak d(e) English" (especially as used by the laborers who dug the Panama Canal).[1][2] There are also later (1960s) suggestions that the term referred instead to Italians and derives from spaghetti,[3] but there is little to back this up.[2][4]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈspɪk/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪk

Noun

spic (plural spics)

  1. (US, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) Synonym of Latino, an inhabitant of Latin America or person of Latin American descent.
    Synonyms: spigotty, spiggoty
  2. (US, ethnic slur, uncommon) Synonym of Italian, an inhabitant of Italy or person of Italian descent.

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ “spic”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Juan Vidal, Spic-O-Rama: Where 'Spic' Comes From, And Where It's Going, NPR (2025 March 3): "There are different versions of its etymological origin story. In 1908, the Saturday Evening Post sent a reporter to Panama to write about the thousands of North American laborers digging out the canal. He kept hearing the word "spiggoty," which he learned the northerners had taken to calling Panamanians: "All Americans are alike. They do not bother to learn foreign languages when they go to a foreign country, but they force the natives to learn American. So, when the Panamanians presented themselves, if they could talk English, they prefaced their attempts to cheat the Americans out of something—it really made little difference what—with the statement, accompanied by eloquent gestures: 'Spik d' English.' If they couldn't they said: 'No spik d' English.' One or the other was the universal opening of conversation, and those early Americans soon classed the whole race of men who could or could not 'Spik d' Eng.' as 'Spikities,' and from that grew the harmonious and descriptive Spigotty.'" By 1913, spigotty appears to have shrunk to just spig, as found in the travelog of an author who took a job as a policeman in the Canal Zone, which he called "the land of the panameños, technically known on the Zone as 'Spigoties,' and familiarly, with a tinge of despite, as 'Spigs.'"
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “spic”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  4. ^ Indeed, some early works seem to contradict it: Adam Christian Haeselbarth, Patty of the Palms: A Story of Porto Rico, page 52: '"You speaka-de-English?" "No, you speeka-de-Spanish?" "Spiggoti English! 'Spiggoti Spanish!' There, ma, I see it now. That's where that word 'Spiggoti' comes from. It has nothing to do with spaghetti at all. Spiggoty horse, Spiggoty girl, Spiggoty everything! Now, I see it! No wonder it isn't in that 'Spanish Without a Master' that I paid twenty-five cents for and you nearly let fall overboard coming down. Spiggoty, why, of course, how ridiculous! It's a Spanish word and not Italian.'

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin spicum < spica. Doublet of épi, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

Noun

spic m (uncountable)

  1. Spike lavender
    Synonym: lavande aspic

Further reading

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *spik, from Proto-Germanic *spiką. Cognate with Dutch spek, German Speck, and Icelandic spik.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /spit͡ʃ/

Noun

spiċ n

  1. bacon
  2. lard

Declension

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative spiċ —
accusative spiċ —
genitive spiċes —
dative spiċe —

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: spik, spyk, spike, spich

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin spīcum, alternative form of spīca.

Noun

spic n (plural spice)

  1. (of grain) ear, spike

Declension

singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative spic spicle spic spicle
genitive-dative spic spiclui spic spiclor
vocative spic spiclor
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.