Etymology
1. c.1300, from O.Fr.
espoillier "to strip, plunder," from L.
spoliare "to strip of clothing, rob," from
spolium "armor stripped from an enemy, booty;" originally "skin stripped from a killed animal," from PIE
*spol-yo-, perhaps from base
*spel- "to split, to break off" (cf. Gk.
aspalon "skin, hide,"
spolas "flayed skin;" Lith.
spaliai "shives of flax;" O.C.S.
rasplatiti "to cleave, split;" M.L.G.
spalden, O.H.G.
spaltan "to split;" Skt.
sphatayati "splits"). Sense of "to damage so as to render useless" is from 1563; that of "to over-indulge" (a child, etc.) is from 1648 (implied in
spoiled). Intransitive sense of "to go bad" is from 1692. To be
spoiling for (a fight, etc.) is from 1865, from notion that one will "spoil" if he doesn't get it. The noun meaning "goods captured in time of war" is from c.1300.
Spoiler "one who ruins an opponent's chances" is from 1950.
Spoil-sport attested from 1801.
2. Etymology tree
3. Latin spolium
4. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
5. Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
6. Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
7. Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
8. Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
9. Proto-Italic *-ājō
10. Proto-Italic *-āō
11. Latin -ō
12. Latin spoliāre
13. Old French espoillierbor.
14. Middle English spoilen
15. English spoil
16. From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”). See: Old French '
espoillier', Latin '
spoliō'.
Verbs referencing "spoil"
Sranan
pori, Tok Pisin spoilim.