Sped

How to spell sped

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sped

What does sped mean?

1. verbMoved quickly, or travelled at high speed (past tense of 'speed').

Sped in a sentence

• The courier sped across town to deliver the contract on time.

• The train sped through the station without stopping.

Where does sped come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past tense of 'speed', which comes from the Old English noun spēd, meaning 'success', 'prosperity', or 'good fortune', and the related verb spēdan, 'to succeed' or 'to prosper'. The sense of swift movement grew out of the older idea of things going well or coming to a happy outcome, so to 'speed' once meant to thrive rather than simply to hurry. Over the medieval period the word narrowed toward rapidity, and the old wish 'God speed you' preserved the original meaning of success on a journey. The clipped past form 'sped' developed by an internal vowel change, which is why it is spelled with a single 'e' and a final 'd' rather than the regular '-ed' ending. The word is Germanic at its core, sharing roots with the Dutch spoed, 'haste', and the spelling stays short because it never picked up a doubled consonant or a tacked-on suffix.

How the word is built

• sped (irregular past tense of 'speed', formed by vowel change from the Old English strong/weak pattern rather than by adding -ed)