An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/spreizen
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spreizen, verb, ‘to spread open, stride,’ earlier Modern High German spreutzen, literally ‘to stretch upwards like a prop or buttress,’ from Middle High German and Old High German spriutzen ‘to properly support.’ Allied to Middle High German spriuȥ, ‘buttress,’ which is derived from the stem of sprietzen.