spar

See also spår, and spär

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /spɑː/
• (US) IPA: /spɑɹ/, [spɑɹ], [spɑ˞]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
• Homophone: spa (in non-rhotic accents)

Etymology 1

From Middle English sparre (“spar, rafter, beam”) (noun), sparren (“to close, bar”) (verb), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sparrô (“stake, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)par- (“beam, log”). Compare Dutch spar (“balk”), German Sparren (“rafter, spar”), Danish sparre (“spar”). Perhaps also compare spear, park.

Noun

spar (plural spars)

1. A rafter of a roof.
2. A thick pole or piece of wood.
3. (obsolete) A bar of wood used to fasten a door.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.11:

     The Prince staid not his aunswere to devize, / But, opening streight the Sparre, forth to him came […].

4. (nautical) A general term denoting any linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff.
5. (aeronautics) A beam-like structural member that supports ribs in an aircraft wing or other airfoil.

Translations

a stout pole

• Russian: шпат (ru) (špat) m

a general term denoting any linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff

• Dutch: rondhout (nl) n
• German: Spiere (de) f, Rundholz (de) n

• Russian: рангоут (ru) (rangóut) m (from Dutch "rondhout" - roundwood)

a beam-like structural member that supports ribs in an aircraft wing or other airfoil

• Russian: лонжерон крыла (lonžerón krylá) m

Verb

spar (third-person singular simple present spars, present participle sparring, simple past and past participle sparred)

1. (obsolete or dialectal) to bolt, bar.
2. (transitive) To supply or equip (a vessel) with spars.

Derived terms

• oversparred, undersparred

Etymology 2

From Middle English sparren (“to thrust or strike rapidly”), from Old English sperran, spirran, spyrran (“to strike, strike out at, spar”), related to Low German sparre (“a struggling, striving”), German sich sperren (“to struggle, resist, oppose”), Icelandic sperrask (“to kick out at, thrust, struggle”).

Verb

spar (third-person singular simple present spars, present participle sparring, simple past and past participle sparred)

1. To fight, especially as practice for martial arts or hand-to-hand combat.
   • 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, BBC:

     After early sparring, Spurs started to take control as the interval approached and twice came close to taking the lead. Terry blocked Rafael van der Vaart's header on the line and the same player saw his cross strike the post after Adebayor was unable to apply a touch.

Translations

to fight, especially as practice for martial arts or hand-to-hand combat

• Russian: спарринговать (ru) (sparringovatʹ), вести (ru) (vesti) тренировочный (ru) (trenirovočnyj) бой (ru) (boj)

Etymology 3

From Middle Low German spar, sper (“spar”); or from a backformation of sparstone (“spar”), from Middle English sparston (“gypsum, chalk”), from Old English spærstān (“gypsum”). Related to German Sparkalk (“plaster”), Old English spæren (“of plaster, of mortar”).

Noun

spar (plural spars)

1. (mineralogy) any of various microcrystalline minerals, of light, translucent, or transparent blee, which are easily cleft
2. (mineralogy) any crystal with no readily discernible faces.

Translations

any crystal with no readily discernible faces

• Russian: шпат (ru) (špat) m

Anagrams

• pars, raps, rasp

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Danish

Etymology 1

From Spanish espada (“sword”), from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “blade”).

Noun

spar c (singular definite sparen, plural indefinite sparer)

1. spade (one of the black suits in a deck of cards)

Inflection

    Inflection of spar

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative, dative and accusative	spar	sparen	sparer	sparerne
genitive	spars	sparens	sparers	sparernes

Etymology 2

See spare (“to save,spare”).

Verb

spar

1. imperative of spare

See also

• Spar on the Danish Wikipedia.da.Wikipedia
• Spar (kulør) on the Danish Wikipedia.da.Wikipedia:Spar (kulør)
• (playing card suits) farve; hjerter, klør, ruder, spar ^{(Category: da:Card games)}

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

spar m (plural sparren, diminutive sparretje)

1. spruce

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ʃpaːɐ̯]

Verb

spar

1. Imperative singular of sparen.
2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of sparen.

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Icelandic

Adjective

spar (feminine spör, neuter spart, comparative sparari, superlative sparastur)

1. economical
2. thrifty

Declension

    positive (strong declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	spar	spör	spart
accusative	sparan	spara	spart
dative	spörum	sparri	spöru
genitive	spars	sparrar	spars
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sparir	sparar	spör
accusative	spara	sparar	spör
dative	spörum	spörum	spörum
genitive	sparra	sparra	sparra

    positive (weak declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	spari	spara	spara
accusative	spara	spöru	spara
dative	spara	spöru	spara
genitive	spara	spöru	spara
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	spöru	spöru	spöru
accusative	spöru	spöru	spöru
dative	spöru	spöru	spöru
genitive	spöru	spöru	spöru

    comparative

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sparari	sparari	sparara
accusative	sparari	sparari	sparara
dative	sparari	sparari	sparara
genitive	sparari	sparari	sparara
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sparari	sparari	sparari
accusative	sparari	sparari	sparari
dative	sparari	sparari	sparari
genitive	sparari	sparari	sparari

    superlative (strong declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sparastur	spörust	sparast
accusative	sparastan	sparasta	sparast
dative	spörustum	sparastri	spörustu
genitive	sparasts	sparastrar	sparasts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sparastir	sparastar	spörust
accusative	sparasta	sparastar	spörust
dative	spörustum	spörustum	spörustum
genitive	sparastra	sparastra	sparastra

    superlative (weak declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sparasti	sparasta	sparasta
accusative	sparasta	spörustu	sparasta
dative	sparasta	spörustu	sparasta
genitive	sparasta	spörustu	sparasta
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	spörustu	spörustu	spörustu
accusative	spörustu	spörustu	spörustu
dative	spörustu	spörustu	spörustu
genitive	spörustu	spörustu	spörustu

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Kurdish

Noun

spar gender unspecified

1. errand

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Norwegian

Noun

spar

1. spades (suit in playing cards)

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Swedish

Verb

spar

1. present tense of spara.
2. imperative of spara.