spire en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈspaɪ.ɚ/ (General-American)
- spīʹər (General-American)
- /spaɪə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- spīʹər (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈspaɪ.ə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- spīr (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.
Meanings
- (archaic) The stalk or stem of a plant.
-
A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
Clara had pulled a button from a hollyhock spire, and was breaking it to get the seeds.
1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 12”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
- Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
-
A sharp or tapering point.
This park’s strange and beautiful rock formations were formed by the Yellowstone River and various streams that have cut through the rock over millions of years, carving out hoodoos, spires and caprocks. The name Makoshika comes from a Lakota word for badlands.
2018 July 17, Autumn Spanne, “Check out these crazy rock formations across the United States”, in CNN:A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.
1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
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A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
The spire of the church rose high above the town.
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The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
the spire and top of praises
c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ix]:
- A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| spires | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
spirewise · spirelet · spireward · acrospire · spirelike · broached spire · spireless · spiry
Synonyms
Translations (67)
it guglia (tapering architectural structure) · pt agulha (tapering architectural structure) · fi kärki (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · ga stuaic (tapering architectural structure) · ru шпиль (tapering architectural structure) · cmn 尖頂 /尖顶 (tapering architectural structure) · pt topo (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · es chapitel (tapering architectural structure) · eo spajro (tapering architectural structure) · hu toronytető (tapering architectural structure) · cs špička (tapering architectural structure) · hu toronysisak (tapering architectural structure) · mi koinga (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · da spir (tapering architectural structure) · it pinnacolo (tapering architectural structure) · nb spir (tapering architectural structure) · pt coruchéu (tapering architectural structure) · is turnspíra (tapering architectural structure) · nl toppunt (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · nn spir (tapering architectural structure) · hu orom (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · pt cume (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · io flecho (tapering architectural structure) · bg пик (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · mr मेरुशिखर (tapering architectural structure) · ru шпиц (tapering architectural structure) · uk шпиль (tapering architectural structure) · ru верху́шка (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · de Turmhelm (tapering architectural structure) · mi koinga (tapering architectural structure) · hu csúcs (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · ca agulla (tapering architectural structure) · hu toronycsúcs (tapering architectural structure) · es aguja (tapering architectural structure) · it punta (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · mi koeko (tapering architectural structure) · fi suippotorni (tapering architectural structure) · pt cúpula (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · pt flecha (tapering architectural structure) · fi torni (tapering architectural structure) · fi huippu (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · bg шпил (tapering architectural structure) · sv spira (tapering architectural structure) · fr flèche (tapering architectural structure) · is spíra (tapering architectural structure) · ca cuculla (tapering architectural structure) · hu templomtorony (tapering architectural structure) · de Turmspitze (tapering architectural structure) · nl torenspits (tapering architectural structure) · cmn 尖塔 (tapering architectural structure) · it cuspide (tapering architectural structure) · bg връх (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · sv tornspira (tapering architectural structure) · pl iglica (tapering architectural structure) · ast chipital (tapering architectural structure) · ja 尖塔 (tapering architectural structure) · pt ápice (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · ko 첨탑 (tapering architectural structure) · ru маку́шка (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · cs věžička (tapering architectural structure) · nl spits (tapering architectural structure) · cs špička (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · hu tetőcsúcs (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · nl top (top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit) · fi spiira (tapering architectural structure) · mr मनोरा (tapering architectural structure) · ga spuaic (tapering architectural structure)