To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin.
To wish success or good fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.
To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.
To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.
Origin
From Middle English spede ("prosperity, good luck, quickness, success"), from Old English spēd ("luck, prosperity, 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, 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 ("to hurry"), Latin spēs ("hope, expectation"), spērō, perhaps also to Ancient Greek σπεύδω ("to urge on, hasten, press on").
From Middle English speden, from Old English spēdan ("to speed, prosper, succeed, have success"), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdijan ("to succeed"). Cognate with Scots spede, speid, Dutch spoeden ("to hurry, rush"), Low German spoden, spöden, German sputen, spuden.
Modern English dictionary
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