spean

• spane (Scotland)
• spene, speen (Kent)
• spaine, speane (obsolete)

• IPA^(key): /spiːn/
• Rhymes: -iːn

From Middle English *spene, *spane, from Old English spane, spanu (“teat”), from Proto-West Germanic *spanu, *spenu, from Proto-Germanic *spenô (“nipple”), from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn (“breast; teat”). Cognate with West Frisian spien (“nipple”), Dutch speen (“nipple”), Danish spene (“teat”), Swedish spene (“teat, nipple, dug”), Icelandic speni (“teat”).

Alternatively a borrowing from Dutch speen (“nipple, teat”), from the same Proto-Germanic origin as above.

spean (plural speans)

1. (archaic or dialectal) A teat or nipple of a cow.
   • [1780?], Nicholas Coxe, The Huntſman. Containing the Best Methods of Sport, for Courſing with Greyhounds, and Hunting All Kinds of Chases in England, […] , London: J. Dixwell, page 50:

     The Genital part is all nervy; the Tail ſmall; and the Hind hath Udders betwixt her Thighs, with four Speans or Tets, like a Cow.

From Middle English spanen (“to wean”), probably a borrowing from Middle Dutch spanen, spenen or Middle Low German spānen, spēnen, spōnen (“to wean”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *spanjaną, *spanōną, from Proto-Germanic *spenô (“nipple”), from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn (“breast; teat”). Cognate with Dutch spenen (“to wean”), German spänen (“to wean”), Old French espanir (“to wean”) (< Germanic).

spean (third-person singular simple present speans, present participle speaning, simple past and past participle speaned)

1. (archaic) to wean

• Aspen, NAPEs, Panes, Snape, aspen, napes, neaps, panes, peans, snape, sneap, spane