Origin: bef. 900; 1965–70 for def. 6; (n.) ME
spede good luck, prosperity, rapidity, OE
spēd; c. D
spoed, OHG
spōt; akin to OE
spōwan to prosper, succeed; (v.) ME
speden to succeed, prosper, go with speed, OE
spēdan to succeed, prosper; c. OS
spōdian, OHG
spuoten
Synonyms:1, 2. fleetness, alacrity, dispatch, expedition; hurry.
Speed, velocity, quickness, rapidity, celerity, haste refer to swift or energetic movement or operation.
Speed (originally prosperity or success) may apply to human or nonhuman activity and emphasizes the rate in time at which something travels or operates:
the speed of light, of a lens, of an automobile, of thought. Velocity, a more learned or technical term, is sometimes interchangeable with
speed:
the velocity of light; it is commonly used to refer to high rates of speed, linear or circular:
velocity of a projectile. Quickness, a native word, and
rapidity, a synonym of Latin origin, suggest speed of movement or operation on a small or subordinate scale;
quickness applies more to people (
quickness of mind, of perception, of bodily movement),
rapidity more to things, often in a technical or mechanical context:
the rapidity of moving parts; a lens of great rapidity. Celerity, a somewhat literary synonym of Latin origin, refers usually to human movement or operation and emphasizes expedition, dispatch, or economy in an activity:
the celerity of his response. Haste refers to the energetic activity of human beings under stress; it often suggests lack of opportunity for care or thought:
to marry in haste; a report prepared in haste. 9. advance, favor.
11. accelerate.
16. See rush 1 . 
[speed] 
noun, verb, sped or speed⋅ed, speed⋅ing.