spake

From Middle English spake, spak, from Old Norse spakr (“wise, gentle, quiet”), from Proto-Germanic *spakaz (“wise, clever”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peǵ- (“to understand; intelligent, attentive”). Cognate with Swedish spak (“manageable”), Danish spag (“quiet, gentle, timid, tame”).

Alternative form.

Uncertain. Possibly a variant of spoke, which has a variety of extended senses in English dialects and in Scots (including a tree branch or cutting, a windmill's arm, a birdcage's perch, and a bar for carrying a coffin), though none closely matching this.