spar

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spɑː/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /spɑɹ/, ,
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
• Homophone: spa (in non-rhotic accents)

Etymology 1

From Middle English sparre (“spar, rafter, beam”) (noun), sparren (“to close, bar”) (verb), from Middle Dutch sparre or Middle Low German Sparre, all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sparrô (“stake, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)par- (“beam, log”). Compare Dutch spar (“balk”), German Sparren (“rafter, spar”), Danish sparre (“spar”), Albanian shparr, shpardh (“kind of oak”). Perhaps also compare spear.

Noun

spar (plural spars)

1. A rafter of a roof.
2. A thick pole or piece of wood.
3. (obsolete) A bar of wood used to fasten a door.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     The Prince staid not his aunswere to devize, / But, opening streight the Sparre, forth to him came […].

4. (nautical) Any linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff.
5. (aeronautics) A beam-like structural member that supports ribs in an aircraft wing or other airfoil.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

spar (third-person singular simple present spars, present participle sparring, simple past and past participle sparred)

1. (obsolete or dialectal) To bolt, bar.
   • c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 64, lines 91–94:

     The church dores were sparred,
     Fast boltyd and barryd,
     Yet wyth a prety gyn
     I fortuned to come in, […]

2. (transitive) To supply or equip (a vessel) with spars.

Derived terms

• oversparred, undersparred

Etymology 2

From Middle English sparren (“to dart out; to strike out”), from Old English sperran, spirran, spyrran (“to strike, strike out at, spar”), related to Low German sparre (“a struggling, striving”), German sich sperren (“to struggle, resist, oppose”), Icelandic sperrast (“to kick out at, thrust, struggle”). The slang sense of friend is probably from the phrase sparring partner under the influence of the similar slang words par and star.

Verb

spar (third-person singular simple present spars, present participle sparring, simple past and past participle sparred)

1. To fight, especially as practice for martial arts or hand-to-hand combat.
   • 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC‎:

     After early sparring, Spurs started to take control as the interval approached and twice came close to taking the lead. Terry blocked Rafael van der Vaart's header on the line and the same player saw his cross strike the post after Adebayor was unable to apply a touch.

2. To strike with the feet or spurs, as cocks do.
3. To contest in words; to wrangle.

Translations

Noun

spar (plural spars)

1. A sparring session; a preliminary fight, as in boxing or cock-fighting.
2. (MLE) A friend, a mate, a pal.
   • 2002, “No Escape” (track 23), in It's All Happening Now‎, performed by Lewis Parker (musician), Klashnekoff, and Skriblah Dan Gogh:

     KLASHNEKOFF: I take two glass then pass the spliff to my spars.

   • 2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto‎, performed by Goldie Looking Chain:

     'Ello clart! How are you doin' spar? Let's have a look at your mobile phone there, that's fuckin' posh, innit? […] that's fuckin' safe, spar!

   • 2009 March 17, “Next Hype” (track 3), in All-Star Pars‎, performed by Tempa T:

     I don't care if you got friends in your car. Light up your whip and all of your spars.

   • 2014 September 12, “September 12th”‎performed by S.Kalibre:

     Trying to explain to my spars how it is over a spliff. Arguing, cause the media got 'em locked under their lids.

Etymology 3

From Middle Low German spar, sper (“spar”); or from a backformation of sparstone (“spar”), from Middle English sparston (“gypsum, chalk”), from Old English spærstān (“gypsum”). Related to German Sparkalk (“plaster”), Old English spæren (“of plaster, of mortar”).

Noun

spar (countable and uncountable, plural spars)

2. (mineralogy) Any of various microcrystalline minerals, of light, translucent, or transparent appearance, which are easily cleft.
3. (mineralogy) Any crystal with readily discernible faces.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Irish: sparra
• → Welsh: sbar

Translations

Anagrams

• APRs, Arps, PSRA, RAPs, arps, pars, raps, rasp, sapr-

Danish

Etymology 1

From Spanish espada (“sword”), from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “blade”).

Noun

spar c (singular definite sparen, plural indefinite sparer)

1. spade (one of the black suits in a deck of cards)

Inflection

Etymology 2

See spare (“to save,spare”).

Verb

spar

1. imperative of spare

See also

Suits in Danish · farver, kulører (layout · text)
hjerter	ruder	spar	klør

• spar on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Spar (kulør) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spɑr/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: spar
• Rhymes: -ɑr

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch sparre (“pole, beam”), from Old Dutch *sparro, from Frankish *sparro, from Proto-Germanic *sparrô. Cognate to West Frisian spjir.

Noun

spar m (plural sparren, diminutive sparretje n)

1. spruce; certain tree of the family Pinaceae, especially of the genus Picea, but also used for trees of the genera Abies, Tsuga and Pseudotsuga.

Derived terms

• blauwspar
• douglasspar
• fijnspar
• Nordmannspar
• zilverspar

Etymology 2

Verb

spar

1. inflection of sparren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

spar

1. singular imperative of sparen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of sparen

Icelandic

Etymology

Related to the verb spara (“to save”)

Adjective

spar (comparative sparari, superlative sparastur)

1. economical
2. thrifty

Declension

Jamaican Creole

Noun

spar

1. A friend, a mate, a pal.
   • 2007, “They Fear Me” (track 6), in Gangsta for Life:The Symphony of David Brooks (2007)‎, performed by Mavado (singer):

     I'm so far, my main spars dem no near mi. Singing my song to let my enemies hear mi.

     I'm so far better than the competition that my main friends aren't near me in ability. Singing my song to let my enemies hear me.

Middle English

Verb

spar

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From German , from Spanish espadas (“sword”).

Noun

spar

1. spades (suit in playing cards)

Etymology 2

Verb

spar

1. imperative of spare

References

• “spar” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From German , from Spanish espadas (“sword”).

Noun

spar m (definite singular sparen, indefinite plural spar or sparar, definite plural sparane)

1. spades (suit in playing cards)

Etymology 2

Verb

spar

1. present of spa
2. imperative of spara

References

• “spar” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Verb

spar

1. inflection of spara:
   1. present indicative
   2. imperative

Anagrams

• pars, raps