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speel

English

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speel¹

Where it comes from

From Early Scots speill (“to climb”), of obscure origin. From or akin to Early Scots spelare (“acrobat, tumbler”). Probably from Middle Dutch spelen (“to play, walk a tight rope, do gymnastic tricks, juggle, perform as an actor or clown”), see spiel. Alternately, representing a continuation of Middle English spilen, from Old English spilian (“to play”).

verb speels · speeling · speeled · speil · spele

  1. Northern English, Scottish, dialectal To climb. 1832 March 5, Memoirs of a Paisley Baillie, The Day: A Journal of Literature, Fine Arts, Fashions, &c., Glasgow, page 218, This I thocht at the time when he was speeling up the ladder before me in the Hie Kirk steeple ; but good breeding, at that particular time, keeped me from taking ony correck vi

speel²

Where it comes from

From English dialectal speel (“talk; lingo; patter”), short for bonspiel. Related to spiel.

verb speels · speeling · speeled · speil · spele

  1. To talk at length, to spiel. Old Saxon, who was so sweet and gentle despite his long years on the halls, smiled at me and suggested I should do some speeling. Yedo gave me a megaphone. I held it to my mouth but there was silence.

speel³

verb speels · speeling · speeled · speil · spele

  1. Australia, dialectal To run.

speel⁴

Where it comes from

Probably from Afrikaans speel. Compare Middle English spel (“a story; tale; narrative”). Doublet of spell and shpiel.

noun speels · speil · spele · speal · spiel · spael

  1. South Africa A story; a spiel.

speel⁵

Where it comes from

Possibly related to spile.

noun speels · spool · speil · spele · speal · spiel

  1. Cumbria A splinter; a strip of wood or metal.

speel⁶

Where it comes from

Perhaps continuing Middle English spilen (“to revel, play”), from Old English spilian (“to revel, play”), from Proto-West Germanic *spilōn. Cognate with Dutch spelen (“to play”), German spielen (“to play”), Luxembourgish spillen (“to play”), Icelandic spila (“to play”), Faroese spæla (“to play”), Swedish spela (“to play”), Danish spille (“to play”), Norwegian spille (“to play”).

noun speels · speil · spele · speal · spiel · spael

  1. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal A game. To play a good speel.

verb speels · speeling · speeled · speil · spele

  1. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal To lake, play, sport, take amusement. To speel ba'.

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Cite this
MLA

"speel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/speel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

speel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/speel

Chicago

"speel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/speel.

BibTeX
@misc{speel_2026,
  title = {speel},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/speel},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}