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Added 8 October 2026

speed

/spiːd/ noun

Categories: TimeDescribing WordsEveryday Words

In Latin: celeritās Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about speed at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Distance travelled per unit time.
  2. A rate (usually rapid) at which something happens.
    the project advanced with gratifying speed
  3. Changing location rapidly.

verb

  1. Move hurridly.
    He rushed down the hall to receive his guests
  2. Move faster.
    The car accelerated
  3. Move very fast.
    The runner zipped past us at breakneck speed

Origin

From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: hasteningquickenswiftnessacceleratehastenhiehurryhurryingzipfastnessupper

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