Spieß.
a pointed rod, especially
Meaning & usage
a pointed rod, especially spit
Heute Abend grillen wir Krabben am Spieß.
a pointed rod, especially pike
Er griff sich einen Zaunpfahl und verwendete ihn als Spieß.
skewer (tactic in the game of chess)
Durch einen Spieß setzte er den gegnerischen König ins Schach.
Where this word comes from
From Middle High German spiez (“pike”), from Old High German spioz, from Proto-West Germanic *speut (“spear”). Cognate with Middle Dutch spiet, Old Saxon spiot. Merged semantically with Middle High German spiz (“spit”), from Old High German spiz, from Proto-Germanic *spituz. Cognate with Dutch spit, English spit, Swedish spett. Etymological relation between the two merged words is possible, but uncertain.
an appointment usually held by a Stabsfeldwebel or Oberstabsfeldwebel (OR-8/9), roughly equivalent to company sergeant major in the British Army and comparable to first sergeant in the U.S. Army
Der Spieß ist Unteroffizier in einer Kompanie auf einem herausgehobenen Dienstposten.
Where this word comes from
Ultimately from the word for “pike” in etymology 1 (Middle High German spiez). The use of this simplex for a pikeman is attested since the 14th century. Later on, non-commissioned officers often had the task of discouraging and, if necessary, killing deserters during battle, for which they used pikes. The contemporary use (ca. 1900) after the sergeant’s epee.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.