spore

See also: Spore, S'pore, and споре

English

Etymology

From Modern Latin spora, from Ancient Greek σπορά (sporá, “seed”), related to σπόρος (spóros, “sowing”) and σπείρω (speírō, “to sow”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to strew”) (compare English spread).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: spô, IPA^(key): /spɔː/

• Audio (Berkshire, UK)

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: spôr, IPA^(key): /spɔɹ/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: spōr, IPA^(key): /spo(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /spoə/
• Homophone: spoor (accents with the pour–poor merger)
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)

Noun

spore (plural spores)

1. A reproductive particle, usually a single cell, released by a fungus, alga, or plant that may germinate into another.
   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, OCLC 246633669, PC, scene: Thresher Maws Codex entry:

     Thresher maws are subterranean carnivores that spend their entire lives eating or searching for something to eat. Threshers reproduce via spores that lie dormant for millennia, yet are robust enough to survive prolonged periods in deep space and atmospheric re-entry. As a result, thresher spores appear on many worlds, spread by previous generations of space travelers.

2. A thick resistant particle produced by a bacterium or protist to survive in harsh or unfavorable conditions.

Related terms

• amerospore
• androspore
• aplanospore
• ascospore
• basidiospore
• dictyospore
• didymospore
• forespore
• helicospore
• heterosporous
• homosporous
• meiospore
• phragmospore
• scolecospore
• sporangium
• sporogenesis
• sporophyte
• staurospore
• zoospore
• zygospore

 

Translations

reproductive particle

• Afrikaans: spoor
• Bulgarian: спо́ра (bg) f (spóra)
• Catalan: espora (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᎠᏴᎩᏍᏗ (ayvgisdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 孢子 (zh) (bāozǐ)

• Czech: spora (cs) f, výtrus m
• Dutch: spoor (nl) n
• Esperanto: sporo
• Finnish: itiö (fi)
• French: spore (fr) f
• German: Spore (de) f
• Greek: σπόριο (el) n (spório)
• Hebrew: נבג‎ (he) m (néveg)
• Hungarian: spóra (hu)
• Irish: spór m
• Italian: spora (it) f

• Japanese: 胞子 (ja) (ほうし, hōshi)
• Maori: pua atua, pata (mi), pua-atua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spore (no) m

  Nynorsk: spore m

• Persian: اسپور‎ (espor), هاگ‎ (fa) (hâg)
• Polish: zarodnik (pl) m, spora (pl) f
• Portuguese: esporo (pt) m
• Romanian: spor (ro) m, spori (ro) m pl
• Russian: спо́ра (ru) f (spóra)
• Slovene: spora (sl) f, tros (sl) m
• Spanish: espora (es) f
• Swedish: spor (sv) c
• Thai: สปอร์ (th) (sà-bpɔɔ)
• Ukrainian: спо́ра f (spóra)
• Vietnamese: bào tử (vi)

resistant particle produced by bacterium or protist

• Catalan: espora (ca) f
• Czech: spora (cs) f
• Finnish: itiö (fi)
• Hungarian: spóra (hu)
• Italian: spora (it) f

• Polish: przetrwalnik m, spora (pl) f
• Spanish: espora (es) f
• Turkish: spor (tr)
• Ukrainian: спо́ра f (spóra)

See also

• bulb
• gemma
• pollen
• propagule
• seed

Verb

spore (third-person singular simple present spores, present participle sporing, simple past and past participle spored)

1. To produce spores.

Anagrams

• OPers., Peros, Perso-, Soper, Spero, opers, pores, poser, preso, pro se, prose, reops, repos, ropes, soper

---

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spoːrə/, [ˈsb̥oːɐ]

Etymology 1

• (spore):, from Ancient Greek σπορά (sporá, “seed, a sowing”).
• (spur):, from Old Norse spori, from Proto-Germanic *spurô.

Noun

spore c (singular definite sporen, plural indefinite sporer)

1. spore (reproductive particle)
2. spore (resistant particle produced by bacterium or protist)
3. spur (a rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for purpose of prodding a horse)
4. spur (anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does to a horse)
5. spur (an appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster)

Inflection

Declension of spore

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spore	sporen	sporer	sporerne
genitive	spores	sporens	sporers	sporernes

Etymology 2

• (to spur):, from spore (“spur”).
• (to trace):, from spor (“track, trail, scent”).

Verb

spore (imperative spor, infinitive at spore, present tense sporer, past tense sporede, perfect tense er/har sporet)

1. spur (to prod)
2. spur (to urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object; to incite; to stimulate; to instigate; to impel; to drive)
3. trace (to follow the trail of)
4. scent (to detect the scent of)
5. feel, notice, perceive

Synonyms

• (to spur): anspore
• (to scent, trace): opspore

See also

• spore on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

---

French

Noun

spore f (plural spores)

1. spore

Further reading

• “spore”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

---

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɔ.re/
• Rhymes: -ɔre
• Hyphenation: spò‧re

Noun

spore f

1. plural of spora

Anagrams

• perso, porse, preso, prose, respo, spero, sperò

---

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English spora, spura, from Proto-West Germanic *sporō, from Proto-Germanic *spurô.

Alternative forms

• spor, spure, spwre, spuyre, spurre, spur, spoure, spourre, spowrre, spoor

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɔːr(ə)/, /ˈspoːr(ə)/, /ˈspur(ə)/

Noun

spore (plural spores or sporen)

1. A spur; a prod for horses at the back of one's shoes.
2. A spur as a representation of knightly status.
3. The spike of the claws of a rooster (or other bird).
4. (rare) A low support made of wood.
5. (heraldry, rare) A heraldic depiction of a spur.

Derived terms

• sporen
• sporier

Descendants

• English: spur
• Scots: spur
• Yola: spourr

References

• “spōre, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-17.

Etymology 2

From Old English spor, from Proto-Germanic *spurą; probably assimilated in phonological form to Etymology 1.

Alternative forms

• spure

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɔːr(ə)/, /ˈspoːr(ə)/, /ˈspur(ə)/

Noun

spore

1. (rare, in compounds) A track or trace.

References

• “spōre, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-17.

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse spori.

Noun

spore m (definite singular sporen, indefinite plural sporer, definite plural sporene)

1. a spur

Derived terms

• ridderspore

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek σπορά (sporá).

Noun

spore m (definite singular sporen, indefinite plural sporer, definite plural sporene)

1. (biology) a spore

Etymology 3

From the noun spor.

Verb

spore (imperative spor, present tense sporer, passive spores, simple past spora or sporet or sporte, past participle spora or sporet or sport, present participle sporende)

1. to trace, track

Derived terms

• spore av

References

• “spore” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “spore_3” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “spore_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “spore_4” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse spori.

Noun

spore m (definite singular sporen, indefinite plural sporar, definite plural sporane)

1. a spur

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek σπορά (sporá).

Noun

spore m (definite singular sporen, indefinite plural sporar, definite plural sporane)

1. (biology) a spore

Etymology 3

From Old Norse spora and the noun spor.

Verb

spore (present tense sporar, past tense spora, past participle spora, passive infinitive sporast, present participle sporande, imperative spore/spor)

1. to trace, track

Alternative forms

• spora

References

• “spore” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

---

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɔ.rɛ/
• Rhymes: -ɔrɛ
• Syllabification: spo‧re
• Homophone: sporę

Adjective

spore

1. inflection of spory:
   1. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular
   2. nonvirile nominative/accusative/vocative plural