spade

See also: Spade, späde, and спаде

English

WOTD – 7 January 2016

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /speɪd/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /sped/
• Rhymes: -eɪd
• Homophone: spayed (except Scotland)

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 𒅖𒉺𒀀𒋻 (išpatar, “spear”), Persian سپار (sopâr, “plow”), Northern Luri ئەسپار (aspār, “digging”) and Central Kurdish ئەسپەر (esper), ئەسپەرە (espere, “cross-piece on shaft of spade to take pressure of foot”). Distant doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée.

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[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     '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.'

   • 2021 October 6, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Labour: build HS2 and NPR and end "paper promises"”, in RAIL, number 941, page 25:

     "[...] And not a single spade has gone in the ground - not a single mile of track built."

2. A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.
3. (furry fandom, vulgar) The vulva of canine species.

Derived terms

• bucket and spade
• call a spade a bloody shovel
• call a spade a fucking shovel
• call a spade a shovel
• call a spade a spade
• call a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel
• call a spade a spade, not a big spoon
• peat spade
• spade foot
• spadefoot
• spade-foot
• spade fork
• spadeful
• spade-handed
• spadelike
• spade-man
• spade man
• spade mashie
• spade money
• spadework
• spadeworker
• spade-worker
• turf spade

 

Descendants

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

Translations

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 (bn) (kōdal)
• Budukh: бар (bar) (wooden)
• Bulgarian: пра́ва лопа́та f (práva lopáta), бел (bg) m (bel)
• Burmese: ဂေါ် (my) (gau)
• Carpathian Rusyn: аршув f (aršuv)
• Catalan: pala (ca) f
• Chechen: бел (bel), баьхьа (bäḥʳa)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎪᏕᏍᏗ (agodesdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鏟／铲 (zh) (chǎn), 鏟子／铲子 (zh) (chǎnzi), 鍬／锹 (zh) (qiāo), 鐵鍬／铁锹 (zh) (tiěqiāo), 鐵杴／铁杴 (zh) (tiěxiān), 鍤／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, schup (nl) f (Flemish), schep (nl) f
• Esperanto: ŝpato
• Estonian: labidas
• Faroese: spaki m, spaði m
• Finnish: lapio (fi)
• French: bêche (fr) f, pelle (fr) f
• Galician: pa (gl) f
• Georgian: ბარი (ka) (bari)
• German: Spaten (de) m
• Greek: φτυάρι (el) n (ftyári)

  Ancient: σκαφεῖον n (skapheîon), σκαπάνη f (skapánē), ἄμη f (ámē)

• Hawaiian: ʻōʻō
• Hebrew: אֵת (he) m (et)
• Hindi: फावड़ा (hi) m (phāvṛā), फ़ावड़ा m (fāvṛā)
• Hungarian: ásó (hu)
• Icelandic: skófla (is)
• Ido: spado (io)
• Indonesian: sekop (id), sodok (id)
• Interlingua: pala
• Irish: spád f
• Italian: vanga (it) f, badile (it) m
• Japanese: 鋤 (ja) (すき, suki), スペード (ja) (supēdo)
• Karachay-Balkar: кюрек (kürek)
• Kazakh: күрек (kürek)
• Khakas: кӱрӌек (kürcek)
• Khmer: ប៉ែល (km) (pael), ត្រសេះ (km) (trɑseh), ចប (km) (cɑɑp)
• Korean: 가래 (ko) (garae)
• Kumyk: кюрек (kürek)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: merr (ku) f, mer (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: күрөк (kürök)
• Lao: ກະຈອມປ້ອງ (ka chǭm pǭng), ຊ້ວນ (lo) (sūan), ສຽມ (sīam), ຫລົ້ວ (lūa)
• Latin: rutrum n, pāla f
• Latvian: lāpsta f
• Lezgi: ппер (p̄er)
• Limburgish: sjöp (li) f, spaad 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:

  Cyrillic: хүрз (mn) (xürz)

  Mongolian: ᠬᠦᠷᠵᠡ (kürǰe)

• Norman: bêque f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spade (no) m

  Nynorsk: spade m

• Occitan: palavèrs m
• Ottoman Turkish: كورك (kürek), بیل (bil)
• Persian: بیل (fa) (bil)
• Piedmontese: vanga f
• Plautdietsch: Spodem m
• 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)
• Scottish Gaelic: spaid f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ло̀пата f, а́шов m

  Roman: lòpata (sh) f, ášov (sh) m

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

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

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 삽 (ko) (sap)

Verb

spade (third-person singular simple present spades, present participle spading, simple past and past participle spaded)

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

Derived terms

• spader

Etymology 2

Probably from Italian spade, plural of spada (“the ace of spades”, literally “sword, spade”), from earlier *spata, from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπᾰ́θη (spáthē). Cognate with Etymology 1. So called for the shape, though what the shape was exactly meant to represent has been debated.

Noun

spade (plural spades)

1. (card games) A playing card marked with the symbol ♠.

   I've got only one spade in my hand.

2. (offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
   • 1929, Wallace Thurman, The Blacker the Berry, New York: Collier Books, published 1970, →ISBN, page 161:

     And as for a divorce, I know plenty spades right here in Harlem get married any time they want to.

   • 1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:

     Example: Max was in a hospital in New York and "the night nurse was a groovy spade, and in the afternoon for therapy there was a chick from Israel who was interesting, but there was nothing much to do in the morning, so I left".

   • 1968, Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Bantam, published 1997, →ISBN, page 9:

     It had even gotten to the point that Negroes were no longer in the hip scene, not even as totem figures. It was unbelievable. Spades, the very soul figures of Hip, of jazz, of the hip vocabulary itself, man and like dig and baby and scarf and split and later and so fine, of civil rights and graduating from Reed College and living on North Beach, down Mason, and balling spade cats—all that good elaborate petting and patting and pouring soul all over the spades—all over, finished, incredibly.

Etymology 3

Verb

spade

1. (obsolete) simple past and past participle of spay

Derived terms

• in spades
• royal spade

 

Translations

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)
• Belarusian: пі́ка f (píka), пі́кі f pl (píki)
• Bulgarian: пи́ка (bg) f (píka)
• Burmese: ဖူး (my) (hpu:)
• Catalan: pica (ca) f
• 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 (et)
• Faroese: spaðari m, spaðar m
• Finnish: pata (fi)
• French: pique (fr) f
• Galician: pica (gl) f
• Georgian: ყვავი (ka) (q̇vavi)
• German: Pik (de) n
• Greek: μπαστούνι (el) n (bastoúni)
• Hebrew: עָלֶה (he) m ('alé)
• Hungarian: pikk (hu)
• Icelandic: spaði (is) m
• Indonesian: sekop (id)
• Interlingua: spada
• Irish: spéireata m
• Italian: picche (it)
• Japanese: スペード (ja) (supēdo)
• Kazakh: қарға (qarğa)
• Khmer: ប៊ិក (km) (bɨk)
• Korean: 스페이드 (ko) (seupeideu)
• Kyrgyz: карга (ky) (karga)
• Latvian: pīķi m pl
• Lithuanian: pikai m pl
• Macedonian: пик m (pik), лист (mk) m (list)
• Maltese: spadi
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гил (mn) (gil)

• Navajo: asbáala
• Norman: picl'ye f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: 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), пи́ки (ru) f pl (píki)
• Scottish Gaelic: spaid f
• Slovak: pika (sk) f
• Slovene: pik (sl) m
• Spanish: pica (es) f
• Swahili: shupaza
• Swedish: spader (sv) c
• Telugu: ఇస్పేటు (ispēṭu)
• Thai: โพดำ (th) (poo-dam)
• Turkish: maça (tr)
• Ukrainian: пі́ка f (píka), вино́ (uk) n (vynó), пі́ки f pl (píky)
• Uzbek: qargʻa (uz)

black person

• Bulgarian: черни́лка f (černílka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黑鬼 (zh) (hēiguǐ)

• 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
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svarting (no) m

• Portuguese: crioulo (pt) m
• Romanian: cioroi (ro) m
• Spanish: negro (es) m, mulato m
• Swedish: neger (sv) c, svartskalle (sv) c (highly offensive)

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

Anagrams

• adeps, apsed, paeds, pedas

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, from Proto-Germanic *spēdiz (“late”).

Adjective

spade (comparative spader, superlative spaadst)

1. (archaic) late

Declension

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

Finnish

Etymology

Possibly from pata (“pot”) (perhaps through English spade, since spades (the card suit) are also called pata in Finnish).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɑde/, [ˈs̠pɑ̝de̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑde
• Hyphenation^(key): spa‧de

Noun

spade

1. (military slang) field cook

   Synonym: sotilaskeittäjä

Declension

Inflection of spade (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		spade	spadet
genitive		spaden	spadejen
partitive		spadea	spadeja
illative		spadeen	spadeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		spade	spadet
accusative	nom.	spade	spadet
	gen.	spaden
genitive		spaden	spadejen spadein rare
partitive		spadea	spadeja
inessive		spadessa	spadeissa
elative		spadesta	spadeista
illative		spadeen	spadeihin
adessive		spadella	spadeilla
ablative		spadelta	spadeilta
allative		spadelle	spadeille
essive		spadena	spadeina
translative		spadeksi	spadeiksi
abessive		spadetta	spadeitta
instructive		—	spadein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of spade (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative spadeni spadeni accusative nom. spadeni spadeni gen. spadeni genitive spadeni spadejeni spadeini rare partitive spadeani spadejani inessive spadessani spadeissani elative spadestani spadeistani illative spadeeni spadeihini adessive spadellani spadeillani ablative spadeltani spadeiltani allative spadelleni spadeilleni essive spadenani spadeinani translative spadekseni spadeikseni abessive spadettani spadeittani instructive — — comitative — spadeineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative spadesi spadesi accusative nom. spadesi spadesi gen. spadesi genitive spadesi spadejesi spadeisi rare partitive spadeasi spadejasi inessive spadessasi spadeissasi elative spadestasi spadeistasi illative spadeesi spadeihisi adessive spadellasi spadeillasi ablative spadeltasi spadeiltasi allative spadellesi spadeillesi essive spadenasi spadeinasi translative spadeksesi spadeiksesi abessive spadettasi spadeittasi instructive — — comitative — spadeinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative spademme spademme accusative nom. spademme spademme gen. spademme genitive spademme spadejemme spadeimme rare partitive spadeamme spadejamme inessive spadessamme spadeissamme elative spadestamme spadeistamme illative spadeemme spadeihimme adessive spadellamme spadeillamme ablative spadeltamme spadeiltamme allative spadellemme spadeillemme essive spadenamme spadeinamme translative spadeksemme spadeiksemme abessive spadettamme spadeittamme instructive — — comitative — spadeinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative spadenne spadenne accusative nom. spadenne spadenne gen. spadenne genitive spadenne spadejenne spadeinne rare partitive spadeanne spadejanne inessive spadessanne spadeissanne elative spadestanne spadeistanne illative spadeenne spadeihinne adessive spadellanne spadeillanne ablative spadeltanne spadeiltanne allative spadellenne spadeillenne essive spadenanne spadeinanne translative spadeksenne spadeiksenne abessive spadettanne spadeittanne instructive — — comitative — spadeinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative spadensa spadensa accusative nom. spadensa spadensa gen. spadensa genitive spadensa spadejensa spadeinsa rare partitive spadeaan spadeansa spadejaan spadejansa inessive spadessaan spadessansa spadeissaan spadeissansa elative spadestaan spadestansa spadeistaan spadeistansa illative spadeensa spadeihinsa adessive spadellaan spadellansa spadeillaan spadeillansa ablative spadeltaan spadeltansa spadeiltaan spadeiltansa allative spadelleen spadellensa spadeilleen spadeillensa essive spadenaan spadenansa spadeinaan spadeinansa translative spadekseen spadeksensa spadeikseen spadeiksensa abessive spadettaan spadettansa spadeittaan spadeittansa instructive — — comitative — spadeineen spadeinensa

Friulian

Etymology

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

Noun

spade f (plural spadis)

1. sword

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspa.de/
• Rhymes: -ade
• Hyphenation: spà‧de

Noun

spade f

1. plural of spada

Middle English

Alternative forms

• spad

Etymology

From Old English spadu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspaːd(ə)/

Noun

spade (plural spades)

1. tool for digging, shovel

Descendants

• English: spade
• Scots: spade, spaid
• Yola: spaade

References

• “spāde, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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. spade (a garden tool)

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

2. spadeful

   tre spader jord - three spadefuls of earth

References

• “spade” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• spåddå (dialectal, Trøndelag)
• spa (dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse spaði.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²spɑː(d)ə/

Noun

spade m (definite singular spaden, indefinite plural spadar, definite plural spadane)

1. spade, shovel (a garden tool)

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

2. spadeful

   ein spade sand - a spadeful of sand

Synonyms

• hake (“(wooden) shovel”)
• rokko (“(wooden) shovel”) (dialectal)

Derived terms

• steikespade

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.

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. shovel

   Synonyms: (more specific) skyffel, (large broad curved) skovel

2. a spade (a garden tool)

Declension

Declension of spade

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	spade	spades
	definite	spaden	spadens
plural	indefinite	spadar	spadars
	definite	spadarna	spadarnas

Related terms

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

 

References

• spade in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)