speien

German

Etymology

From Old High German spīwan, from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Compare Dutch spuwen, spugen, English spew, Danish spy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃpaɪ̯ən/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

1. to spit
2. (euphemistic) to vomit

Conjugation

• The past participle currently has two different pronunciations: one corresponding to gespien [ɡəˈʃpiːn] and the other to gespieen [ɡəˈʃpiːən]. Today, though, the only official spelling is gespien, regardless of pronunciation.
• Similary the conjunctive (subjunctive) is spelled spiee or spie. Both are pronounced [ˈʃpiːə], but only the latter spelling is official nowadays.

Synonyms

• (spit): spucken
• (vomit): kotzen

Related terms

• Wasserspeier
• Speispinne

Further reading

• “speien” in Duden online