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spait. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
spait, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
spait in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
spait you have here. The definition of the word
spait will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
spait, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Scots
Etymology
Etymology uncertain; possibly related to English spatter and Dutch spatten (“to spatter, splash”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw, *spyū (whence English spit (“to evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.”)), which is imitative of spitting.
Pronunciation
Noun
spait (plural spaits)
- (Middle Scots, archaic) spate
1902, G. Gregory Smith, “Prologue to Aen. VII”, in Specimens of Middle Scots, William Blackwood and Sons, page 124:Reweris rane reid one spait with watteir broun […]
1820 January, “The Marmaiden of Clyde”, in The Scots Magazine, and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany, volume VI, number 1, page 423:
References
- ^ “spate, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W Grant and D D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
- ^ John Ayto (1990) Dictionary of Word Origins, New York, N.Y.: Arcade Publishing, →ISBN.
Further reading
- John Jamieson (1825) “SPAIT”, in Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language: , volumes II (K–Z), Edinburgh: University Press; for W & C Tait, ; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 452, column 1.