spade

Meanings

Noun

Verb

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

Origin

  • From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu, from Proto-Germanic *spadǭ, *spadô, *spadō. 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 ("blade"), Hittite, Persian سپار ("plow"), Northern Luri ئەسپار ("digging") and Central Kurdish ئەسپەر, ئەسپەرە.
  • Compare spay, noun, and spado.

Modern English dictionary

Explore and search massive catalog of over 900,000 word meanings.

Word of the Day

Get a curated memorable word every day.

Challenge yourself

Level up your vocabulary by setting personal goals.

And much more

Try out Vedaist now.