# speed

> English word · Noun · IPA /spiːd/ · frequency rank #1,099

## Definitions
1. The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.
2. The rate of motion or action, specifically the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time.
3. The sensitivity to light of film, plates or sensor.
4. The duration of exposure, the time during which a camera shutter is open (shutter speed).
5. The largest size of the lens opening at which a lens can be used.
6. The ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a photographic objective.
7. Amphetamine or any amphetamine-based drug (especially methamphetamine) used as a stimulant, especially illegally.
8. Luck, success, prosperity.
9. Personal preference.
10. A third-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the rate of change of gamma with respect to changes in the underlying asset price.

## Etymology
From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”).
Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”). Related also to Old English spōwan (“to be successful, succeed”), Albanian shpejt (“to speed, to hurry”) and Russian спеши́ть (spešítʹ, “to hurry”), Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”), spērō (“hope”, verb), perhaps also to Ancient Greek σπεύδω (speúdō, “to urge on, hasten, press on”).

## Easily confused with
- **sued** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-sued)
- **spew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spew)
- **spud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spud)
- **spent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spent)
- **spend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spend)
- **sweet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-sweet)
- **steel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-steel)
- **spell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spell)
- **steep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-steep)
- **sweep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-sweep)
- **sperm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-sperm)
- **steer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-steer)
- **spies** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spies)
- **spree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spree)
- **stead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-stead)
- **spelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spelt)
- **steed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-steed)
- **steen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-steen)
- **speer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-speer)
- **spiel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speed-vs-spiel)

## Common misspellings (6)
`pseed`, `seped`, `spede`, `speedd`, `sppeed`, `sspeed`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/speed