Meaning

noun a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible

noun the matter ejected in vomiting

verb eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth

originProbably imitative; or, alternatively related to Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then related to German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”), Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), German spucken (“to spit, puke, throw up”), and Old English spīwan (“to vomit, spit”). More at spew. Attested as early as 1581, first mention is the…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0