Talk:spigot

Alternate spelling

Does an alternate spelling count as a homophone? Nemoanon (talk) 03:21, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

Etymology?

in the article as it stands, spigot is claimed to be derived from (ultimately) latin spica. While I cannot make reliable claims, I would like to observe that there are very similar words in Dutch, Danish and German (Spuigat, Spygat and Speigatt). These are equivalent to (English) scupper = an opening or port in the bulwarks of a ship's deck to drain water back into the sea. While apparently not the same word, the similarity strikes me. The Dutch, Danish and German words literally mean "spewing gate", with Spui- / Spy- / Spei- being apparently the equivalent of "spew", and with gat/gat/gatt being the equivalent of "gate". However in Dutch/Danish/German, the word is only used in maritime language, where it can mean any small opening (but never a gate to walk or drive through). Could it be that spigot is related to these three words - after all, there was ample language exchange between England, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany during the age of sail? --Himbeerkuchen (talk) 08:49, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

The continental Germanic words are indeed equivalent to "spew-gate" (etymologically) or "spew-hole" (semantically). The problem is that these words have exclusively the precise nautical meaning, from the earliest attestations on, whereas in English the same sense doesn't occur at all. Therefore a relation seems unlikely. At the same time, the derivation form "spica" doesn't appear entirely certain either; a lot of links seem to be missing. How do you get from "ear of corn" to "core of a fruit" and then further to "plug"? I'm not saying it's impossible, of course, but it's not an obvious development. 84.63.31.91 13:33, 19 July 2024 (UTC)