An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Beispiel

by Friedrich Kluge

Beispiel, neuter, ‘example,’ from late Middle High German bîspil, mostly bîspel, neuter, ‘fable, allegory, proverb,’ Old High German *bîspëll (for bî compare bei and Beichte). Compare Anglo-Saxon bîspell, ‘example, parable'; formed from Old High German and Middle High German spël (ll), ‘tale, fable, rumour,’ Gothic spill, ‘legend, fable,’ Anglo-Saxon spell, English spell (gospel from godspell), ‘tale, fable'; spell (to which French épeler, ‘to spell,’ is akin) is the term for literary composition in prose, and hence is as important for the history of primitively Teutonic civilisation as Lied, singen, &c.