An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Spaten
Spaten, masculine, ‘spade,’ Modern High German only; Middle High German spate may be inferred from the Middle High German and Modern High German diminutive spatel, ‘little shovel’; the implied Old High German *spato agrees with Old Saxon spado, Dutch spade (spa), Anglo-Saxon spada, English spade. These Old Teutonic cognates are primitively allied to Greek σπάθη, ‘(blade of a) sword.’ Italian spada, ‘sword’ (to which French épée is allied), is usually derived from Greek rather than from Teutonic.