An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Spilling
Appearance
Spilling, masculine, ‘large yellow plum,’ from the equivalent Middle High German spillinc, spinlinc (g), masculine. Probably connected, like Old High German spënala, Middle High German spënel, ‘pin,’ with a primitively Teutonic spī̆na-, ‘thorn,’ which is cognate with Latin spîna, ‘thorn’ (compare Italian spillo, ‘pin’).