spurn (v.)

Middle English spurnen, from Old English spurnan "to kick (away), strike against, drive back," as with the foot (a sense now obsolete); also "reject with disdain, scorn, despise," from Proto-Germanic *spurnon (source also of Old Saxon and Old High German spurnan, Old Frisian spurna, Old Norse sporna "to kick, drive away with the feet"), from PIE root *spere- "ankle" (source also of Middle Dutch spoor "track of an animal," Greek sphyron "ankle," Latin spernere "to reject, spurn," Sanskrit sphurati "kicks," Middle Irish seir "heel"). Related: Spurned; spurning.

Entries linking to spurn

spoor (n.)

"track, trace," of a wild animal, especially a hunted one, 1823, used originally by travelers and settlers in South Africa, from Afrikaans spoor, from Dutch spoor, from Middle Dutch spor, which is cognate with Old English spor "footprint, track, trace," from Proto-Germanic *spur-am, from PIE *spere- "ankle" (see spurn).

spur (n.)

Middle English spore, from Old English spura, spora "spiked metal implement worn on the heel to goad a horse" (related to spurnan "to kick"), from Proto-Germanic *spuron (source also of Old Norse spori, Middle Dutch spore, Dutch spoor, Old High German sporo, German Sporn "spur"), from PIE *spere- "ankle" (see spurn). Related to Dutch spoor, Old English spor "track, footprint, trace" (compare spoor).

The generalized sense of "anything that goads or urges on, a stimulus," is from late 14c. As a sharp projection on the leg of a cock, from mid-13c. Extended generally 16c. to other projecting things. The meaning "ridge projecting off a mountain mass" is recorded from 1650s. Of railway lines from 1837.

"Widely extended senses ... are characteristic of a horsey race" [Weekley]. Expression spur of the moment (1782) preserves archaic phrase on the spur "in great haste" (1520s).

Gilded spurs were noted by early 13c. as the distinctive mark of a knight. Hence win one's spurs (early 15c.) "gain knighthood by some valorous act." To be spurless in Middle English (sporles) was to be "without spurs, stripped of noble or knightly rank."

Trends of spurn

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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reject

early 15c., rejecten, "eject, set aside, block from inheritance;" late 15c., "refuse to acquiesce or submit to," from Old French rejecter and directly from Latin reiectus, past participle of reiectare "throw away, cast away, vomit," frequentative of reicere "to throw back," from

scorn

late 12c., scorn, skarn, "feeling or attitude of contempt; contemptuous treatment, mocking abuse," a shortening of Old French escarn "mockery, derision, contempt," a common Romanic word (Spanish escarnio, Italian scherno) of Germanic origin (source also of Old High German skern "

disdain

mid-14c., desdeinen, "think unworthy or worthless, look upon with contempt," from Old French desdeignier "disdain, scorn, refuse, repudiate" (Modern French dédaigner), from des- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + deignier "treat as worthy," from Latin dignari "to deem worthy or fi

contemn

mid-15c., contempnen, "to slight or spurn," from Old French contemner (15c.) or directly from Latin contemnere "to despise...

refuse

c. 1300, "reject, spurn, decline" a request, demand, invitation, etc.; also intransitive, "to make refusal;" from Old French...

buffer

"something that absorbs a blow, apparatus for deadening the concussion between a moving body and that against which it strikes," 1835, agent noun from obsolete verb buff "make a dull sound when struck" (mid-16c.), from Old French bufe "a blow, slap, punch" (see buffet (n.2)). The

snub

mid-14c., "to check, reprove, rebuke," from Old Norse snubba, Old Danish snebbe, "to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove." The etymological sense is perhaps "to cut off," and the word probably is related to snip. Compare Swedish snobba "lop off, snuff (a candle)," Old Norse snubbo

decline

late 14c., "to turn aside, deviate" (a sense now archaic), also "sink to a lower level," and, figuratively, "fall to an inferior or impaired condition," from Old French decliner "to sink, decline, degenerate, turn aside," from Latin declinare "to lower; avoid, deviate; bend from,

leper

"one afflicted with leprosy," late 14c., earlier "the disease leprosy," from Late Latin lepra, from Greek lepra "leprosy," noun use of fem. of lepros (adj.) "scaly, scabby, rough, leprous," related to lepein "to peel," from lepos, lepis "a scale," from PIE root *lep- (1) "to peel

repel

early 15c., "to drive away, remove, quench" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French repeller and directly from Latin repellere "to drive back," from re- "back" (see re-) + pellere "to drive, strike" (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrust, strike, drive"). The sense of "encounter (an

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updated on June 01, 2023

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Dictionary entries near spurn

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spunky

spur

spurge

spurious

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spurrier

spurt

sputative

sputnik

sputter