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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the term “Brand new” come from and What does span-new mean?

Where does the term “Brand new” come from and What does span-new mean?

March 10, 2020 by Karen Hill

This concept of absolute, perfect newness is very old in itself, dating back past medieval English to the Old Norse, in which its form was span-nyr, from spann, “a chip,” plus nyr, “new.”

The allusion is to the newness of a chip freshly cut by the woodsman’s ax.

Variants such as spang-new, spanking new, etc., are merely inventive expansions giving additional emphasis, as is the longer term spick-and-span-new.

In this last, spick is identical to spike, and the allusion is to a spike just off the blacksmith’s forge.

The later extension of spick-and-span to imply neatness or cleanliness, of course, is with reference to the appearance of newness.

Brand-new (bran-new) refers to the newness of something, such as pottery, perhaps, fresh from the fire (brands), and this has led to the sometimes-heard bran-span-new.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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