spark

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: spärk, (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /spɑɹk/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: späk, (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /spɑːk/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Homophone: SPARC

Etymology 1

From Middle English sparke, sperke, from Old English spearca, from Proto-Germanic *sprakô (compare Dutch spark and sprank, Middle Low German sparke), from Proto-Indo-European *sperg- (“to strew, sprinkle”) (compare Breton erc’h (“snow”), Latin spargō (“to scatter, spread”), sparsus (“scattered”), Lithuanian sprógti (“to germinate”), Ancient Greek σπαργάω (spargáō, “to swell”), Persian پراکن (parākan, “scatter, spread”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬈𐬔𐬀 (frasparega, “branch, twig”), Sanskrit पर्जन्य (parjanya, “rain, rain god”)).

Noun

spark (plural sparks)

1. A small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire.
2. A short or small burst of electrical discharge.
3. A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.
4. (figuratively) A small amount of something, such as an idea, that has the potential to become something greater, just as a spark can start a fire.
   • Shakespeare

     if any spark of life be yet remaining

   • John Locke

     We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge.

   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "[1]", BBC Sport, 1 September 2013:

     Everton's Marouane Fellaini looks one certain arrival but Moyes, who also saw United held to a draw by Chelsea at Old Trafford on Monday, needs even more of a spark in a midfield that looked laboured by this team's standards.

5. (in plural sparks but treated as a singular) A ship's radio operator.
6. (UK, slang) An electrician.

Synonyms

• (small particle of glowing matter; ember): gnast, funk
• (small amount of something, such as an idea, that has the potential to become something greater): beginnings, germ, glimmer

Derived terms

(deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

• bright spark
• spark arrester
• spark coil
• spark gap
• spark knock
• sparkle
• spark of life
• spark plug
• sparks fly
• spark transmitter

 

Translations

particle of glowing matter

• Afrikaans: vonk
• Albanian: shkëndijë (sq) f
• Arabic: شَرَارَة f (šarāra)
• Armenian: կայծ (hy) (kayc)

  Old Armenian: կայծ (kayc), կայծակն (kaycakn)

• Aromanian: scãntealji f, scãntealje f
• Azeri: qığılcım
• Belarusian: і́скра f (ískra)
• Bengali: স্ফুলিঙ্গ (sphuliṅgo)
• Bulgarian: искра́ (bg) f (iskrá)
• Burmese: မီးပွား (my) (mi:pwa:)
• Catalan: espurna (ca) f, guspira f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 火花 (zh) (huǒhuā)

• Czech: jiskra f
• Danish: gnist c
• Dutch: vonk (nl) f, sprank f, vuursprank f
• Estonian: säde (et)
• Faroese: neisti m
• Finnish: kipinä (fi)
• French: étincelle (fr) f, flammèche (fr) f
• Galician: faísca (gl) f, muxica f, moxena f
• Georgian: ნაპერწკალი (naṗerc̣ḳali)
• German: Funke (de) m
• Greek: σπινθήρας (el) m (spinthíras)
• Hebrew: נִיצוֹץ (he) m
• Hindi: चिंगारी (hi) f (ciṅgārī)
• Hungarian: szikra (hu)
• Icelandic: neisti (is) m
• Ido: cintilo (io)
• Italian: scintilla (it) f
• Japanese: 火花 (ひばな, hibana)
• Kazakh: ұшқын (ūşqyn)
• Khmer: ផ្កាភ្លើង (km) (pkaa pləəŋ), កំទេចភ្លើង (kɑmtɨc pləəŋ)
• Korean: 불꽃 (ko) (bulkkot)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ,

• Kyrgyz: учкун (ky) (uckun)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lao: ປະກາຍ (pa kāi), ລູກໄຟ (lūk fai)
• Latgalian: dzierksts, spierksts
• Latin: scintilla f
• Latvian: dzirkstele f
• Lithuanian: kibirkštis m
• Luxembourgish: Fonk
• Macedonian: и́скра f (ískra)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gnist (no) m

  Nynorsk: gneiste m

• Occitan: beluga (oc) f, scintila f
• Persian: جرقه (fa) (jeraqqe), اخگر (fa) (axgar), آییژ (fa) (âyiž), بلک (fa) (belk), شراره (fa) (šarâre)
• Polish: iskra (pl) f
• Portuguese: faísca (pt) f, fagulha (pt) f, chispa (pt) f, faúlha (pt) f
• Romanian: scânteie (ro) f
• Romansch: sbrinzel m
• Russian: и́скра (ru) f (ískra), искра́ (ru) f (iskrá)
• Sardinian: schinchidha f, scincidha f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: искра f, варница f, жижица f, жижа f

  Roman: iskra (sh) f, varnica (sh) f, žižica (sh) f, žiža (sh) f

• Slovak: iskra f
• Slovene: iskra (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: škrja f

  Upper Sorbian: škra f

• Spanish: chispa (es) f, centella (es) f
• Swedish: gnista (sv) c
• Tajik: шарора (šarora)
• Thai: ประกาย (bprà-gaai), ลูกไฟ (lûuk-fai)
• Turkish: kıvılcım (tr)
• Turkmen: uçgun
• Ukrainian: і́скра f (ískra)
• Urdu: چنگاری f (cingārī)
• Uzbek: uchqun (uz)
• Walloon: spite (wa) f, blawete (wa) f, spitron (wa) m, flamaxhe (wa) f
• Welsh: gwreichionen f

burst of electrical discharge

• Armenian: կայծ (hy) (kayc)

  Old Armenian: կայծ (kayc), կայծակն (kaycakn)

• Catalan: espurna (ca) f, guspira f, centella f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 火花 (zh) (huǒhuā)

• Czech: jiskra f
• Danish: gnist c
• Dutch: vonk (nl)
• Finnish: kipinä (fi)
• Latvian: dzirkstele f
• Malay: percikan
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gnist (no) m

  Nynorsk: gneiste m

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: faísca (pt) f
• Russian: и́скра (ru) f (ískra), искра́ (ru) f (iskrá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: искра f

  Roman: iskra (sh) f, varnica (sh) f

• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: škrja f

  Upper Sorbian: škra f

• Spanish: chispa (es) f, centella (es) f
• Swedish: gnista (sv) c

figurative: small amount of something, which has the potential to become something greater

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 微量 (zh) (wēiliàng)

• Danish: gnist c
• French: étincelle (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: dzirksts
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gnist (no) m

  Nynorsk: gneiste m

informal: ship's radio operator

• Armenian: ռադիստ (hy) (ṙadist)
• Norwegian: gnist (no) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: (non-slang) эле́ктрик (ru) (eléktrik), паяльник (ru) (pajalʹnik) (slang)

Verb

spark (third-person singular simple present sparks, present participle sparking, simple past and past participle sparked)

1. (transitive, figurative) To trigger, kindle into activity (an argument, etc).
2. (transitive) To light; to kindle.
   • Alex Jenson, The Serotonin Grand Prix (page 12)

     Byron sparked the cigarette. He sucked it dramatically and thrust it into Marko's hand.

3. (intransitive) To give off a spark or sparks.

Derived terms

• spark off
• sparkle

Translations

to give off sparks

• Catalan: espurnejar (ca)
• Romanian: scânteia
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: chispear (es)

Etymology 2

Probably Scandinavian, akin to Old Norse sparkr (“sprightly”).

Noun

spark (plural sparks)

1. A gallant, a foppish young man.
   • Prior

     The finest sparks and cleanest beaux.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     Jones had no sooner quitted the room, than the petty-fogger, in a whispering tone, asked Mrs Whitefield, “If she knew who that fine spark was?”

2. A beau, lover.

Verb

spark (third-person singular simple present sparks, present participle sparking, simple past and past participle sparked)

1. To woo, court.

Derived terms

• sparkish
• sparker

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• K-spar, Karps, Parks, parks

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Danish

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse spark, verbal noun to sparka (“to kick”).

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /spark/, [sb̥ɑːɡ̊]

Noun

spark n (singular definite sparket, plural indefinite spark)

1. kick

Inflection

Declension of spark

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spark	sparket	spark	sparkene
genitive	sparks	sparkets	sparks	sparkenes

Verb

spark

1. (deprecated template usage) imperative of sparke

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Faroese

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /spaɹ̥k/

Noun

spark n (genitive singular sparks, plural spørk)

1. kick

Declension

Declension of spark
n5	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spark	sparkið	spørk	spørkini
accusative	spark	sparkið	spørk	spørkini
dative	sparki	sparkinum	spørkum	spørkunum
genitive	sparks	sparksins	sparka	sparkanna

Derived terms

(deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

• brotsspark (“penalty kick”)
• fríspark (“free kick”)
• hornaspark (“corner kick”)
• málspark (“goal kick”)
• neyðspark (“when forced to kick the ball off”)
• sparka (“to kick”)

 

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Icelandic

Etymology

From sparka (“to kick”).

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈspar̥k/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -ar̥k

Noun

spark n (genitive singular sparks, nominative plural spörk)

1. kick

Declension

declension of spark

n-s	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spark	sparkið	spörk	spörkin
accusative	spark	sparkið	spörk	spörkin
dative	sparki	sparkinu	spörkum	spörkunum
genitive	sparks	sparksins	sparka	sparkanna

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

spark n (definite singular sparket, indefinite plural spark, definite plural sparka or sparkene)

1. a kick (with a foot)

Related terms

• sparke

Derived terms

• brassespark
• frispark
• straffespark

Verb

spark

1. (deprecated template usage) imperative of sparke

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

spark n (definite singular sparket, indefinite plural spark, definite plural sparka)

1. a kick (with a foot)

Derived terms

• brassespark
• frispark
• straffespark

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Swedish

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse spark, from sparka (“to kick”).

Noun

spark c

1. kick

Declension

Declension of spark
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	spark	sparken	sparkar	sparkarna
Genitive	sparks	sparkens	sparkars	sparkarnas