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spool

(spl)

a. A cylinder of wood, plastic, cardboard, or other material on which wire, thread, or string is wound.

b. The amount of wire, thread, or string wound on such a cylinder.

c. Something similar to such a cylinder in shape or function.

2. A reel for magnetic tape.

tr. & intr.v. spooled, spool·ing, spools

1. To wind or be wound on or off a spool.

2. To store (data sent to a printer) in a buffer, allowing the program that sent the data to the printer to resume its normal operation.

[Middle English spole, from Old North French espole and from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German spoele (Old North French, from Middle Dutch).]

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spool

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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