Spoils of War Is the Word's Original Meaning
To spoil is to ruin or over-indulge. The Latin behind it meant stripping the skin from a defeated enemy.
To spoil is to ruin something, or to over-indulge a person. The oldest sense is the harshest: Latin *spolium* meant the hide stripped from an animal, then the armour stripped from a defeated enemy, and *the spoils of war* preserves it exactly. Ruining came later, from the idea of plundering something until nothing good remains. *To spoil a plot* is recent, from the 1970s, and *spoiler* in that sense followed.
- To ruin. *Spoil the surprise.*
- To over-indulge. *A spoiled child.*
- To go bad. *The milk spoiled.*
- Spoils — plunder. *The spoils of war.*
- Latin — *spolium*, stripped hide. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | spoil | Spoil it. |
| Past (UK) | spoilt | Spoilt. |
| Past (US) | spoiled | Spoiled. |
| Noun | spoils | The spoils. |
| Agent | spoiler | A spoiler. |
- Don't spoil the ending.Ruin.
- The spoils were divided among the troops.Plunder.
- The meat spoiled in the heat.Decay.
Spoil in different senses
- Spoils of war — captured goods, the oldest sense
- Spoil a child — indulge until character suffers
- Spoiled food — gone bad
- Spoiler — a plot revelation, or an aerodynamic device
- Spoil heap — waste rock from mining or excavation
Old French *espoillier*, from Latin *spoliare*, to strip or plunder, from *spolium*, a hide stripped from an animal.
Why does spoil relate to war?
Latin spolium meant the armour stripped from a defeated enemy, and the spoils of war keeps that original sense.
Spoilt or spoiled?
Spoilt is more common in British English, spoiled in American, though spoiled is used everywhere for food going bad.