espy

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈspaɪ/
  Play
• Received-Pronunciation: /ɛ-/
  Play
• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• General-American: /əˈspaɪ/
  Play
• General-American: /ɛ-/
  Play
• rhymes with -aɪ
  Play
• CMU ARPABET: EH1 S P IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  Play

Shortened form of Gillespie.

From Middle English aspie, espie (“covert investigation or observation, scouting, spying; information obtained through spying; secret and treacherous plan, plot; treachery; a scout or spy”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman espie, Old French espie, from espier (verb): see further at etymology 1. Cognates * Italian spia * Spanish espia

From Middle English aspien, espien (“to make covert observations of (a person or place) with hostile intent, to spy on; to seek to discover by spying; to act as a spy; to catch sight of, see; to look over, observe; to wait in ambush, to ambush; to plot against; to look for, seek to find; to inquire or look into, investigate; to discover, find”) [and other forms], from Old French espier (“to watch”) (modern French épier (“to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for”)), from Vulgar Latin *spiāre, from Frankish *spehōn (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, observe, see”). Doublet of spy. Cognates * Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to examine; to look at; to consider, think”) * Italian spiare * Latin speciō (“to look at, observe, watch”) * Old High German spehōn (modern German spähen) * Occitan espiar * Spanish espiar

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: съзирам (sǎziram) — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Bulgarian: забелязвам (zabeljazvam) — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Dutch: bespeuren — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Dutch: waarnemen — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Galician: espiar — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Galician: espreitar — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Galician: axexar — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Galician: esculcar — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Latin: prospicio — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Polish: dostrzegać — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Polish: dostrzec — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Polish: wyśledzać — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Polish: wyśledzić — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Russian: заме́тить (zamétitʹ) — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Russian: приме́тить (primétitʹ) — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Russian: обнару́жить (obnarúžitʹ) — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Russian: засе́чь (zaséčʹ) — to find out or observe (something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking
• Bulgarian: съзирам (sǎziram) — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Polish: wpadać na — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Polish: wpaść na — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Russian: заме́тить (zamétitʹ) — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Russian: приме́тить (primétitʹ) — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Russian: обнару́жить (obnarúžitʹ) — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Russian: засе́чь (zaséčʹ) — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Swedish: få syn på — to see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly
• Bulgarian: разглеждам (razgleždam) — to examine or observe carefully
• Bulgarian: наблюдавам (nabljudavam) — to examine or observe carefully
• Dutch: onderzoeken — to examine or observe carefully
• Dutch: bespioneren — to examine or observe carefully
• Latin: prospicio — to examine or observe carefully
• Polish: badać dokładnie — to examine or observe carefully
• Polish: zbadać dokładnie — to examine or observe carefully
• Russian: наблюда́ть (nabljudátʹ) — to examine or observe carefully