An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/sparen

by Friedrich Kluge

sparen, vb., ‘to save, economise, lay up,’ from MidHG. sparn, OHG. sparôn, ‘to save, spare, preserve, lay up,’ Denomin. of OHG. spar, ‘thrifty’ (AS. spœr, for which sparsam, ‘thrifty,’ first occurs in ModHG.; MidHG. spęrlîche, ‘in a frugal manner,’ is the corresponding adv., but it was changed in ModHG. into an adj., spärlich, ‘frugal’); in OHG. sparhęnti, AS. spœrhęnde, ‘thrifty.’ Comp. Du. sparen, AS. sparian, E. to spare, OIc. spara, No connection with Gr. σπαρνός, ‘scarce, few, seldom’ (allied to σπείρω, ‘to sow, scatter’), is conceivable.