An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Spaten

by Friedrich Kluge

Spaten, m., ‘spade,’ ModHG. only; MidHG. spate may be inferred from the MidHG. and ModHG. dimin. spatel, ‘little shovel’; the implied OHG. *spato agrees with OSax. spado, Du. spade (spa), AS. spada, E. spade. These OTeut. cognates are primit. allied to Gr. σπάθη, ‘(blade of a) sword.’ Ital. spada, ‘sword’ (to which Fr. épée is allied), is usually derived from Gr. rather than from Teut.