Word of the Day

: April 26, 2010

spilth

noun SPILTH

What It Means

1 : the act or an instance of spilling

2 a : something spilled

b : refuse, rubbish

spilth in Context

"A spilth of water fell from the bird as it climbed through the hot air to clear the lakeside trees, and a drop of lake water clung for a moment to the leaf of an ilex." (Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan)

Did You Know?

"Spilth" is formed from the verb "spill" and the noun suffix "-th." This suffix comes to us from Old English and is used to indicate an act or process (as in "spilth" or the more familiar "growth") or a state or condition (as in "breadth" or "length"). The earliest known use of "spilth" is in Shakespeare's Timon of Athens (c. 1607-08): "When our vaults have wept / With drunken spilth of wine…." In the senses of an act of spilling or of something spilled, English speakers today are much more likely to use the noun "spill" or sometimes "spillage," a word which, like "spilth," combines the verb "spill" with a suffix ("-age," this time borrowed from Old French) that can indicate an act or process.