Word of Today

spill[spill 词源字典]

spill: Spill ‘let fall’ [OE] and spill ‘thin piece of wood’ are distinct words. The former originally meant ‘destroy, kill’; the modern sense ‘allow liquid to pour out or fall’, which did not emerge until the 14th century, arose as a rather grisly metaphor based on the notion of ‘shedding blood’. The ultimate origins of the word, which has relatives in Dutch spillen and Swedish spilla, are not known. Spill ‘thin piece of wood’ was probably borrowed from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch spile ‘splinter, wooden pin, bar, etc’, which also gave English spile ‘bung’ [16].

This in turn went back to a prehistoric West Germanic *spinla (source also of English spindle). The familiar modern use of spill for a ‘small slip of wood, paper, etc used for carrying a flame’ did not emerge until the early 19th century.
=> spin, spindle[spill etymology, spill origin, 英语词源]