An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Spelt
Spelt, Spelz, m., ‘spelt,’ from the equiv. MidHG. spëlte, spëlze, OHG. spëlta, spëlza, f.; corresponding. to AS., E., and Du. spelt. The OHG. form spëlza (equiv. to AS. spelt) was borrowed, as the z indicates, prior to the OHG. period (perhaps contemporaneously with Speicher, Pflanze, and kochen) from Lat. and Ital. spelta, while the OHG. variant spëlta points to Ital. spelda. Comp. also with these Fr. épeautre, ‘spelt.’