spade

See also: Spade, späde, and спаде

English

WOTD – 7 January 2016

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /speɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Homophone: spayed
• Rhymes: -eɪd

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 (sopār, “plow”), Northern Luri ئەسپار (aspār, “diging”) and Kurdish, .

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, Moonfleet Chapter 4

     '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.'

2. A playing card marked with the symbol ♠.

   I've got only one spade in my hand.

3. (offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
4. A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.

Derived terms

• call a spade a spade
• in spades
• spadefoot
• spadeful
• spadelike
• spadework
• spadeworker

Descendants

• → Scottish Gaelic: spaid
• → Fiji Hindi: sipi

Translations

a garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging

• Afrikaans: graaf (af)
• Albanian: lopatë (sq) f, kaci (sq) m
• Arabic: مِجْرَفَة f (mijrafa), مِجْرَف m (mijraf), مِسْحَاة f (misḥāh)
• Armenian: բահ (hy) (bah)
• Asturian: pala (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: kürək (az)
• Bashkir: көрәк (körək)
• Belarusian: рыдлёўка (be) f (rydljóŭka), лапа́та f (lapáta)
• Bengali: কোদাল (kōdal)
• Budukh: бар (bar) (wooden)
• Bulgarian: лопа́та (bg) f (lopáta)
• Burmese: ဂေါ် (my) (gau)
• Catalan: pala (ca) f
• Chechen: баьхьа (bäḥʳa), бел (bel)
• Cherokee: ᎪᏕᏍᏗ (godesdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鏟／铲 (zh) (chǎn), 铲 (zh) (chǎn), 鏟子／铲子 (zh) (chǎnzi), 铲子 (zh) (chǎnzi), 鍬／锹 (zh) (qiāo), 锹 (zh) (qiāo), 鐵鍬／铁锹 (zh) (tiěqiāo), 铁锹 (zh) (tiěqiāo), 鐵杴／铁杴 (zh) (tiěxiān), 铁锨 (zh) (tiěxiān), 鍤／锸 (zh) (chā), 锸 (zh) (chā)

• Chuvash: кӗреҫе (kĕreś̬e)
• Crimean Tatar: kürek, lesker
• Czech: rýč (cs) m
• Danish: spade (da) c
• Dolgan: күрдьэк (kürcek)
• Dutch: schop (nl) f, spade (nl) f, (Flemish) schup (nl) f, schep (nl) f
• Estonian: labidas
• Faroese: spaki m, spaði m
• Finnish: lapio (fi)
• French: bêche (fr) f, pelle (fr) f
• Galician: pa (gl) f
• Georgian: ბარი (bari)
• German: Spaten (de)
• Greek: φτυάρι (el) n (ftyári)
• Hebrew: אֵת (he) m (et)
• Hindi: फावड़ा (hi) m (phāvṛā), फ़ावड़ा m (fāvṛā)
• Hungarian: ásó (hu)
• Icelandic: skófla
• Ido: spado (io)
• Indonesian: sekop (id), sodok (id)
• Interlingua: pala
• Irish: spád f
• Italian: vanga (it) f
• Japanese: 鋤 (ja) (すき, suki), スペード (ja) (supēdo)
• Karachay-Balkar: кюрек (kürek)
• Kazakh: күрек (kk) (kürek)
• Khakas: кӱрӌек (kürcek)
• Khmer: ប៉ែល (km) (pael), ត្រសេះ (km) (trɑseh), ចប (km) (cɑɑp)
• Korean: 가래 (ko) (garae)
• Kumyk: кюрек (kürek)
• Kurdish: ,
• Kyrgyz: күрөк (kürök)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lao: ກະຈອມປ້ອງ (ka chǭm pǭng), ຊ້ວນ (lo) (sūan), ສຽມ (sīam), ຫລົ້ວ (lūa)
• Latin: rutrum n, pāla f
• Latvian: lāpsta f
• Lezgi: пер (per)
• Limburgish: sjöp (li) f, spaad (li) f
• Lithuanian: kastuvas m
• Luxembourgish: Schëpp f, Spuet m
• Macedonian: ашов m (ašov)
• Malagasy: fangady (mg), fitetika (mg), angady (mg)
• Malay: sodok
• Maltese: mgħażqa f
• Maori: kāheru
• Mazanderani: گرواز (gervâz)
• Mongolian: хүрз (mn) (xürz)
• Norman: bêque f (Jersey)
• Norwegian: spade (no) m
• Persian: بیل (fa) (bil)
• Polish: szpadel (pl) m inan, rydel (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: pá (pt) f
• Romanian: lopată (ro) f, cazma (ro) f
• Russian: штыкова́я лопа́та f (štykovája lopáta), лопа́та (ru) f (lopáta), за́ступ (ru) m (zástup)
• Rusyn: аршув f (aršuv)
• Scottish Gaelic: spaid f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лопата f, ашов m

  Roman: lopata (sh) f, ašov (sh) m

• Shor: кӱрек (kürek), кӱрчек (kürçek)
• Sinhalese: ඉස්කෝප්පය (iskōppaya)
• Slovak: rýľ m
• Slovene: lopata (sl) f
• Slovincian: lʉ̀ɵ̯pată f
• Southern Altai: кӱрек (kürek)
• Spanish: pala (es) f, azada (es) f
• Sudovian: lopta f
• Swedish: spade (sv) c
• Tajik: бел (tg) (bel)
• Talysh: خلیک (xəlik) (Asalem dialect)
• Tatar: көрәк (tt) (köräk)
• Thai: เสียม (th) (sǐiam)
• Turkish: kürek (tr), bel (tr)
• Turkmen: bel
• Ukrainian: лопа́та (uk) f (lopáta), за́ступ m (zástup)
• Urdu: فاوڑا m (fāvṛā)
• Uzbek: kurak (uz), belkurak (uz), bel (uz)
• Vietnamese: xẻng (vi), xuồng (vi)
• Welsh: pâl f, rhaw (cy) f
• Yakut: күрдьэх (kürjeq)

one of the black suits in a deck of cards

• Albanian: maç (sq) m
• Arabic: الْبَسْتُونِيّ m (al-bastūniyy)
• Armenian: ագռավ (hy) (agṙav) (formal), ղառ (ġaṙ) (informal)
• Bulgarian: пика (bg) f (pika)
• Burmese: ဖူး (my) (hpu:)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 葵扇 (kwai⁴ sin³)

  Mandarin: 黑桃 (zh) (hēitáo)

• Czech: pik m, piky
• Danish: spar (da) c
• Dutch: schoppen (nl) pl, schuppen (nl) pl (Flemish)
• Estonian: poti (et), pada
• Faroese: spaðari m, spaðar m
• Finnish: pata (fi)
• French: pique (fr) f
• Galician: pica (gl) f
• Georgian: ყვავი (ka) (q̇vavi)
• German: Pik (de)
• Greek: μπαστούνι (el) n (bastoúni)
• Hungarian: pikk (hu)
• Icelandic: spaði (is) m
• Indonesian: sekop (id)
• Interlingua: spada
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: spéireata m
• Italian: picche (it)
• Japanese: スペード (ja) (supēdo)
• Khmer: ប៊ិក (km) (bik)
• Korean: 스페이드 (ko) (seupeideu)
• Macedonian: пик m (pik), лист m (list)
• Maltese: spadi
• Navajo: asbáala
• Norman: picl'ye f (Jersey)
• Norwegian: spar (no) m
• Ojibwe: biig, gichi-biig
• Persian: پیک (fa) (pik)
• Polish: pik (pl) m, wino (pl) n
• Portuguese: espada (pt) f
• Romanian: pică (ro) f
• Russian: пи́ка (ru) f (píka)
• Scottish Gaelic: spaid f
• Spanish: pica (es) f
• Swahili: shupaza
• Swedish: spader (sv) c
• Telugu: ఇస్పేటు (ispēṭu)
• Thai: โพดำ (th) (poo-dam)
• Turkish: maça (tr)

a black person

• Bulgarian: чернилка (černilka)
• Finnish: laku (fi)
• Hungarian: negró, feka (hu) (very offensive)
• Icelandic: surtur m, negri m, niggari m, svertingjahundur m, blámaður m
• Interlingua: negro
• Italian: negro (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svarting m

• Portuguese: crioulo (pt) m
• Romanian: cioroi (ro) m
• Spanish: negro (es) m, mulato m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} picca
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 삽 (ko) (sap)

Verb

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

Derived terms

• spader

Etymology 2

Compare spay, noun, and spado.

Alternative forms

• spaid
• spayade

Noun

spade (plural spades)

1. A hart or stag three years old.
2. 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.)

Anagrams

• adeps, apsed, paeds, pedas

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspaːdə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Alternative forms

• spa

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. Cognate with German spät (“late”).

Adjective

spade (comparative spader, superlative spaadst)

1. (archaic) late

Inflection

Declension of spade
uninflected	spade
inflected	spade
comparative	spader
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		spade	spader	het spaadst het spaadste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	spade	spadere	spaadste
	n. sing.	spade	spader	spaadste
	plural	spade	spadere	spaadste
definite		spade	spadere	spaadste
partitive		spades	spaders	—

Synonyms

• laat

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Finnish

Noun

spade

1. (military slang) field cook

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Friulian

Etymology

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

Noun

spade f (plural spadis)

1. sword

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Italian

Noun

spade f

1. plural of spada

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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. a spade (tool)

   kalle en spade for en spade - call a spade a spade

2. a spadeful

   tre spader jord - three spadefuls of earth

References

• “spade” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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. a spade, shovel (tool)

   kalle ein spade for ein spade - call a spade a spade

2. a spadeful

   ein spade sand - a spadeful of sand

Verb

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

1. Alternative form of spa

References

• “spade” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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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. a spade (tool)

Declension

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

Related terms

• spada
• spader
• spadformad
• spadhandtag
• spadharv
• spadtag
• spadvända
• spadvändning

References

• spade in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)