spade

See also: Spade, späde, and спаде

English

WOTD – 7 January 2016

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /speɪd/
    • (file)
    • (file)
  • (Scotland) IPA(key): /sped/
  • Rhymes: -eɪd
  • Homophone: spayed (except Scotland)

Etymology 1

From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (spade), from Proto-Germanic *spadǭ, *spadô, *spadō (spade). Cognate with Dutch spade, Old Frisian spada, Old Saxon spado, German Spaten, Hunsrik Spaad. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂-dʰ-, whence also Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, blade), Hittite [script needed] (išpatar, spear), Persian سپار (sopâr, plow), Northern Luri ئەسپار (aspār, digging) and Central Kurdish ئەسپەر (esper), ئەسپەرە (espere, cross-piece on shaft of spade to take pressure of foot).[1] Distant doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée.

Noun

spade (plural spades)

  1. A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:
      'Make your mind easy,' Ratsey said; 'I have dug too often in this graveyard for any to wonder if they see me with a spade.'
    • 2021 October 6, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Labour: build HS2 and NPR and end "paper promises"”, in RAIL, number 941, page 25:
      "[...] And not a single spade has gone in the ground - not a single mile of track built."
  2. A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Scottish Gaelic: spaid
  • Fiji Hindi: sipi
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

spade (third-person singular simple present spades, present participle spading, simple past and past participle spaded)

  1. To turn over soil with a spade to loosen the ground for planting.
Derived terms

References

  1. Dehkhoda dictionary: سپار.

Etymology 2

Probably from Italian spade, plural of spada (the ace of spades, literally sword, spade), from earlier *spata, from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπᾰ́θη (spáthē). Cognate with Etymology 1. So called for the shape, though what the shape was exactly meant to represent has been debated.[1]

Noun

spade (plural spades)

  1. (card games) A playing card marked with the symbol .
    I've got only one spade in my hand.
  2. (offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
    • 1929, Wallace Thurman, The Blacker the Berry, New York: Collier Books, published 1970, →ISBN, page 161:
      And as for a divorce, I know plenty spades right here in Harlem get married any time they want to.
    • 1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:
      Example: Max was in a hospital in New York and "the night nurse was a groovy spade, and in the afternoon for therapy there was a chick from Israel who was interesting, but there was nothing much to do in the morning, so I left".
    • 1968, Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Bantam, published 1997, →ISBN, page 9:
      It had even gotten to the point that Negroes were no longer in the hip scene, not even as totem figures. It was unbelievable. Spades, the very soul figures of Hip, of jazz, of the hip vocabulary itself, man and like dig and baby and scarf and split and later and so fine, of civil rights and graduating from Reed College and living on North Beach, down Mason, and balling spade cats—all that good elaborate petting and patting and pouring soul all over the spades—all over, finished, incredibly.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 3

Compare spay, noun, and spado.

Alternative forms

Noun

spade (plural spades)

  1. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) A hart or stag three years old.
  2. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) A castrated man or animal.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for spade”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

References

  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “spade (n.2)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈspaːdə/
  • (file)

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch spade, from Old Dutch *spado, from Proto-Germanic *spadô.

Noun

spade m (plural spaden or spades)

  1. spade

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch spâde, from Old Dutch *spādi, from Proto-Germanic *spēdiz (late).

Adjective

spade (comparative spader, superlative spaadst)

  1. (archaic) late
Inflection
Inflection of spade
uninflected spade
inflected spade
comparative spader
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial spadespaderhet spaadst
het spaadste
indefinite m./f. sing. spadespaderespaadste
n. sing. spadespaderspaadste
plural spadespaderespaadste
definite spadespaderespaadste
partitive spadesspaders
Synonyms

References

    Finnish

    Etymology

    Possibly from pata (pot) (perhaps through English spade, since spades (the card suit) are also called pata in Finnish).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈspɑde/, [ˈs̠pɑ̝de̞]
    • Rhymes: -ɑde
    • Syllabification(key): spa‧de

    Noun

    spade

    1. (military slang) field cook
      Synonym: sotilaskeittäjä

    Declension

    Inflection of spade (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
    nominative spade spadet
    genitive spaden spadejen
    partitive spadea spadeja
    illative spadeen spadeihin
    singular plural
    nominative spade spadet
    accusative nom. spade spadet
    gen. spaden
    genitive spaden spadejen
    spadeinrare
    partitive spadea spadeja
    inessive spadessa spadeissa
    elative spadesta spadeista
    illative spadeen spadeihin
    adessive spadella spadeilla
    ablative spadelta spadeilta
    allative spadelle spadeille
    essive spadena spadeina
    translative spadeksi spadeiksi
    abessive spadetta spadeitta
    instructive spadein
    comitative See the possessive forms below.
    Possessive forms of spade (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
    first-person singular possessor
    singular plural
    nominative spadeni spadeni
    accusative nom. spadeni spadeni
    gen. spadeni
    genitive spadeni spadejeni
    spadeinirare
    partitive spadeani spadejani
    inessive spadessani spadeissani
    elative spadestani spadeistani
    illative spadeeni spadeihini
    adessive spadellani spadeillani
    ablative spadeltani spadeiltani
    allative spadelleni spadeilleni
    essive spadenani spadeinani
    translative spadekseni spadeikseni
    abessive spadettani spadeittani
    instructive
    comitative spadeineni
    second-person singular possessor
    singular plural
    nominative spadesi spadesi
    accusative nom. spadesi spadesi
    gen. spadesi
    genitive spadesi spadejesi
    spadeisirare
    partitive spadeasi spadejasi
    inessive spadessasi spadeissasi
    elative spadestasi spadeistasi
    illative spadeesi spadeihisi
    adessive spadellasi spadeillasi
    ablative spadeltasi spadeiltasi
    allative spadellesi spadeillesi
    essive spadenasi spadeinasi
    translative spadeksesi spadeiksesi
    abessive spadettasi spadeittasi
    instructive
    comitative spadeinesi
    first-person plural possessor
    singular plural
    nominative spademme spademme
    accusative nom. spademme spademme
    gen. spademme
    genitive spademme spadejemme
    spadeimmerare
    partitive spadeamme spadejamme
    inessive spadessamme spadeissamme
    elative spadestamme spadeistamme
    illative spadeemme spadeihimme
    adessive spadellamme spadeillamme
    ablative spadeltamme spadeiltamme
    allative spadellemme spadeillemme
    essive spadenamme spadeinamme
    translative spadeksemme spadeiksemme
    abessive spadettamme spadeittamme
    instructive
    comitative spadeinemme
    second-person plural possessor
    singular plural
    nominative spadenne spadenne
    accusative nom. spadenne spadenne
    gen. spadenne
    genitive spadenne spadejenne
    spadeinnerare
    partitive spadeanne spadejanne
    inessive spadessanne spadeissanne
    elative spadestanne spadeistanne
    illative spadeenne spadeihinne
    adessive spadellanne spadeillanne
    ablative spadeltanne spadeiltanne
    allative spadellenne spadeillenne
    essive spadenanne spadeinanne
    translative spadeksenne spadeiksenne
    abessive spadettanne spadeittanne
    instructive
    comitative spadeinenne
    third-person possessor
    singular plural
    nominative spadensa spadensa
    accusative nom. spadensa spadensa
    gen. spadensa
    genitive spadensa spadejensa
    spadeinsarare
    partitive spadeaan
    spadeansa
    spadejaan
    spadejansa
    inessive spadessaan
    spadessansa
    spadeissaan
    spadeissansa
    elative spadestaan
    spadestansa
    spadeistaan
    spadeistansa
    illative spadeensa spadeihinsa
    adessive spadellaan
    spadellansa
    spadeillaan
    spadeillansa
    ablative spadeltaan
    spadeltansa
    spadeiltaan
    spadeiltansa
    allative spadelleen
    spadellensa
    spadeilleen
    spadeillensa
    essive spadenaan
    spadenansa
    spadeinaan
    spadeinansa
    translative spadekseen
    spadeksensa
    spadeikseen
    spadeiksensa
    abessive spadettaan
    spadettansa
    spadeittaan
    spadeittansa
    instructive
    comitative spadeineen
    spadeinensa

    Friulian

    Etymology

    From Latin spatha (a type of sword), from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, broad blade).

    Noun

    spade f (plural spadis)

    1. sword

    Italian

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈspa.de/
    • Rhymes: -ade
    • Hyphenation: spà‧de

    Noun

    spade f

    1. plural of spada

    Middle English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From Old English spadu.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈspaːd(ə)/

    Noun

    spade (plural spades)

    1. tool for digging, shovel

    Descendants

    References

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Etymology

    From Middle Low German spade and Old Norse spaði, jarnspaði.

    Noun

    spade m (definite singular spaden, indefinite plural spader, definite plural spadene)

    1. spade (a garden tool)
      kalle en spade for en spade - call a spade a spade
    2. spadeful
      tre spader jord - three spadefuls of earth

    References

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From Old Norse spaði, jarnspaði, from Middle Low German spade.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /²spɑːə/, /²spɑːdə/

    Noun

    spade m (definite singular spaden, indefinite plural spadar, definite plural spadane)

    1. spade, shovel (a garden tool)
      kalle ein spade for ein spade - call a spade a spade
    2. spadeful
      ein spade sand - a spadeful of sand

    Derived terms

    • steikespade

    Verb

    spade (present tense spader, past tense spadde, past participle spadd or spadt, present participle spadande, imperative spad)

    1. Alternative form of spa

    References

    Swedish

    Etymology

    From Old Norse spaði, from Middle Low German spade, from Proto-Germanic *spadō, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂-dʰ-.

    Noun

    spade c

    1. shovel
      Synonyms: (more specific) skyffel, (large broad curved) skovel
    2. a spade (a garden tool)

    Declension

    Declension of spade 
    Singular Plural
    Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
    Nominative spade spaden spadar spadarna
    Genitive spades spadens spadars spadarnas

    References

    This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.