Meaning

noun a slap with the flat of the hand

verb give a spanking to; subject to a spanking

originUncertain. Likely of Dutch or Low German origin. Compare North Frisian spanke (“to step with pride”), Saterland Frisian spankje (“to splash”), dialectal Dutch spanken (“to limp, hobble”), Dutch spankeren (“to run away quickly, gallop off”), German Low German spenkern (“to burst, explode, shatter, splash, spray”), Danish spanke (“to strut”), Swedish spånka (“to strut proudly”); originally,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0