spere

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

spere (plural speres)

1. (architecture) The fixed structure between the great hall and the screens passage in an English medieval timber house.

Anagrams

• Esper, Peers, Perse, Prees, Reeps, Spree, esper, peers, per se, perse, pères, speer, spree

---

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German sperren, from Old High German sperran (“to put up rafters, beams; to barricade”), from sper (“spear”), from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru.

Verb

spere

1. (Uri) to block, to bar

References

• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 64.

---

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *speru, from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru.

Noun

spere f or n

1. spear, lance
2. spearman, lancer

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: speer
• Limburgish: spaer

Further reading

• “spere, sperre”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “spere (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

---

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English spere, from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru.

Alternative forms

• sperre, spære, speer, spear, sper

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɛːr(ə)/

Noun

spere (plural speres or sperren)

2. A spear or lance.
3. (Christianity) The Lance of Longinus.
4. A barb or point.
5. A spearman; a soldier who wields a spear.

Derived terms

• spere-hed
• spere schaft
• sperwort

Descendants

• English: spear
• Scots: spere, speir

References

• “spēre, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.

Etymology 2

From Old French sphere, from Latin sphaera, from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra).

Alternative forms

• sper, spire, sphere

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspeːr(ə)/, /ˈspɛːr(ə)/

Noun

spere (plural speres)

1. (astronomy) The cosmos, outer space
2. A globe or sphere representing outer space.
3. (astronomy) The supposed outer sphere of the cosmos, the primum mobile.
5. sphere, ball, a spherical object.

Descendants

• English: sphere
• Scots: sphere, spere

References

• “spẹ̄re, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.

Etymology 3

From Medieval Latin spera.

Alternative forms

• sperre, spure

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɛːr(ə)/

Noun

spere (plural speres)

2. partition, divider

Descendants

• English: spere

References

• “spēr(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-08.

Etymology 4

Noun

spere

1. Alternative form of sparre

Etymology 5

Verb

spere

1. Alternative form of sparren (“to close”)

---

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognate with West Frisian spear, Dutch speer, Old High German sper (German Speer), Old Norse spjǫr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspe.re/

Noun

spere n (nominative plural speoru)

1. spear, lance, pike, javelin

Declension

Declension of spere (strong-a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	spere	speru
accusative	spere	speru
genitive	speres	spera
dative	spere	sperum

Descendants

• Middle English: spere, spear
  • English: spear

---

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈspere]

Verb

spere

1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of spera