spy

Meaning

Noun

1. A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).
2. A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To act as a spy.
2. (transitive) To spot; to catch sight of; to espy.
3. (intransitive) To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
4. (transitive) To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.

Synonyms

secret agent

scout

peep

emissary

detective

🕵️

watch

⌚

snoop

observe

sleuth

spot

sight

descry

informer

spy upon

detect

espy

undercover agent

reconnoiter

spy on

stag

🦌

secret emissary

inspect

see

👀

perceive

reconnoitre

spotter

agent

spy at

investigate

peep at

watcher

counterspy

trace

behold

undercover

remark

probe

snooper

glimpse

observer

operative

notice

note

patrol

lurk

mole

look

monitor

peek

spook

Translations

espion

Spion

espía

spia

spion

spiare

κατάσκοπος

espião

espiar

espionner

جاسوس

sîxur

casûs

xefnêr

Pronounced as (IPA)

/spaɪ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: spien

Cognate with German: spähen

Cognate with Dutch: spieden

In summary

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”).
The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.
Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos).
Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).

Sentences

The spy has bad memories of Mozambique .