spad

See also: SPAD, spád, späd, spað, spáð, and спад

English

Etymology 1

Shortening of special adviser.

Alternative forms

• SpAd, SpAD

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. (UK politics, informal) A government adviser, often in a political or media role.
   • 1997 November 1, Hannah, Reddy; Wimbush, Angela;Linesberry, Debbie, “Abbreviations and Acronyms”, in Dr. Russell G. Swenson, editor, Defense and Intelligence Abbreviations and Acronyms‎^[1], Washington, DC: Joint Military Intelligence College, archived from the original on March 12, 2016, page 192:

     SPAD Special Advisor

   • 2009, Ben Wright, Hidden world of the political advisers, BBC:

     A successful stint as a spad can be a crucial political apprenticeship - as many of the current crop of professional politicians including the Miliband brothers, David Cameron and George Osborne can testify - so long as they stay in the dark.

   • 2012, Avoid The Thick of It-style spad appointments, ministers told, The Guardian:

     The hit BBC sitcom satirising the inner workings of Whitehall and the so-called spads contains "more than a grain of truth", the head of the cross-party public administration select committee has warned.

Etymology 2

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. (mining) A nail one or two inches long, of iron, brass, tin, or tinner iron, with a hole through the flattened head, used to mark stations in underground surveying.

Etymology 3

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. Clipping of spadona/spadone.
   • 1911 September, contributed by Cyphers Incubator Co., “Ostrich Farming in South Africa”, in American Poultry World, volume II, number 11, Buffalo, N.Y.: American Poultry Publishing Co., page 966:

     No. 6.—Spadonas or spads, the first wing-quills of the chick, clipped at about six months.

   • 1921 September 7, The New York Times, volume LXX, number 23,237, New York, N.Y., page 24, column 6:

     RAW OSTRICH FEATHERS / Primes, Wings, White Feminas, Spads, Etc.

   • 1924 February 12, “On Ostrich Feathers”, in The Manchester Guardian, number 24,175, page 6, column 4:

     “What d’you mean—‘feathers’,” asked the tanned young public school man who volunteered to trot me round, “spads, second-after-chicks, fancies, natals, black butts, adults, juvenals, byocks, chicks, primes, feminas, or what?” […] The first white ones we call spads. […] Two or three months after that clipping we pull out the spad quills.

   • 1959, The Standard Bank Review, The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, page 15:

     An improvement was noted in the demand for femina wings, spads and long bodies;

Anagrams

• APDS, ASPD, PDAs, SaPD, daps, pads

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈspat]

Noun

spad m

1. fallout

Further reading

• spad in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• spad in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

spad

1. imperative of spada

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Polish

Etymology

Deverbal of spadać.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spat/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: spad

Noun

spad m inan

1. (printing) bleed
2. a fallen nut or fruit
3. (collective) fallen nuts or fruit
4. slope, gradient

Declension

Declension of spad

	singular	plural
nominative	spad	spady
genitive	spadu	spadów
dative	spadowi	spadom
accusative	spad	spady
instrumental	spadem	spadami
locative	spadzie	spadach
vocative	spadzie	spady

Further reading

• spad in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• spad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish spadh. Cognate with Icelandic spað and Danish spad.

Noun

spad n

1. broth, decoction
2. (colloquial) a body of water

Usage notes

Colloquial sense often used in the abbreviated definite singular form spat, for example hoppa i spat ("jump in the water") or trilla i spat ("fall in the water").

Declension

Declension of spad
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	spad	spadet	—	—
Genitive	spads	spadets	—	—

References

• spad in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• spad in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)