Spion

See also: spion, spíon, and špión

German

Etymology

16th century, from Italian spione, in part through Middle French espion.[1][2] Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *spehōną, whence German spähen.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃpiˈoːn/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Spion m (strong, genitive Spions, plural Spione, feminine Spionin)

  1. spy

Noun

Spion m (strong, genitive Spions, plural Spione)

  1. peephole
    • 1909 [1901], Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks […] ‎, Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, →OCLC, page 173:
      »Mama, was ist das?« sagte Klara, die durchs Fenster und in den »Spion« blickte. »All die Leute … Was haben sie? Worüber freuen sie sich so?«
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension
Declension of Spion [masculine, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Spion die Spione
genitive eines des Spions der Spione
dative einem dem Spion den Spionen
accusative einen den Spion die Spione

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Czech: špion, špión
  • → Dutch: spion
  • → Romanian: spion
  • → Russian: шпион (špion)
  • → Yiddish: שפּיאָן (shpyon)

References
  1. “Spion” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  2. Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Spion”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Further reading
  • “Spion” in Duden online
  • “Spion” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
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