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Webster 1913 Edition

Spire

Spire

,
Verb.
I.
[L.
spirare
to breathe. See
Spirit
.]
To breathe.
[Obs.]
Shenstone.

Spire

,
Noun.
[OE.
spire
,
spir
, a blade of grass, a young shoot, AS.
spīr
; akin to G.
spier
a blade of grass, Dan.
spire
a sprout, sprig, Sw.
spira
a spar, Icel.
spīra
.]
1.
A slender stalk or blade in vegetation;
as, a
spire
grass or of wheat
.
An oak cometh up a little
spire
.
Chaucer.
2.
A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically
(Arch.)
, the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself.
“With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned.”
Milton.
A
spire
of land that stand apart,
Cleft from the main.
Tennyson.
Tall
spire
from which the sound of cheerful bells
Just undulates upon the listening ear.
Cowper.
3.
(Mining)
A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting.
4.
The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
The
spire
and top of praises.
Shakespeare

Spire

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Spired
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spiring
.]
To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire.
Emerson.
It is not so apt to
spire
up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.
Mortimer.

Spire

,
Noun.
[L.
spira
coil, twist; akin to Gr. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]: cf. F.
spire
.]
1.
A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist.
Dryden.
2.
(Geom.)
The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See
Spiral
,
Noun.
Spire bearer
.
(Paleon.)
Same as
Spirifer
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spire

SPIRE

,
Noun.
[L. spira; from the root of L. spiro, to breathe. The primary sense of the root is to throw, to drive, to send, but it implies a winding motion, like throw, warp, and many others.]
1.
A winding line like the threads of a screw; any thing wreathed or contorted; a curl; a twist; a wreath. His neck erect amidst his circling spires. A dragon's fiery form belied the god; sublime on radiant spires he rode.
2.
A body that shoots up to a point; a tapering body; a round pyramid or pyramidical body; a steeple. With glist'ring spires and pinnacles adorn'd.
3.
A stalk or blade of grass or other plant. How humble ought man to be, who cannot make a single spire or grass.
4.
The top or uppermost point of a thing.

SPIRE

, v.i.
1.
To shoot; to shoot up pyramidically.
2.
To breathe. [Not in use.]
3.
To sprout, as grain in malting.

Definition 2024

spire

spire

English

Noun

spire ‎(plural spires)

  1. (now rare) The stalk or stem of a plant. [from 10th c.]
  2. A young shoot of a plant; a spear. [from 14th c.]
  3. A sharp or tapering point. [from 16th c.]
    • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict:
      A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.
  4. A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof. [from 16th c.]
    The spire of the church rose high above the town.
  5. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit. [from 17th c.]
    • Shakespeare
      the spire and top of praises
  6. (mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.
Translations

Verb

spire ‎(third-person singular simple present spires, present participle spiring, simple past and past participle spired)

  1. Of a seed, plant etc.: to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate. [from 14th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.5:
      In gentle Ladies breste and bounteous race / Of woman kind it fayrest Flowre doth spyre, / And beareth fruit of honour and all chast desyre.
    • Mortimer
      It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.
  2. To grow upwards rather than develop horizontally. [from 14th c.]

Etymology 2

From Old French spirer, and its source, Latin spīrāre ‎(“to breathe”).

Verb

spire ‎(third-person singular simple present spires, present participle spiring, simple past and past participle spired)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To breathe. [14th-16th c.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shenstone to this entry?)

Etymology 3

From Middle French spire.

Noun

spire ‎(plural spires)

  1. One of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile; a coil. [from 16th c.]
  2. A spiral. [from 17th c.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
  3. (geometry) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole.

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Latin spira, from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα ‎(speîra).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /spiʁ/

Noun

spire f ‎(plural spires)

  1. turn (of a spiral)

Anagrams

Italian

Noun

spira f

  1. plural of spira

Anagrams

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse spíra (stem, pipe; little tree)

Noun

spire f, m ‎(definite singular spira or spiren, indefinite plural spirer, definite plural spirene)

  1. sprout

Verb

spire (present tense spirer; past tense spirte; past participle spirt)

  1. to sprout

Venetian

Noun

spire

  1. plural of spira

Etymology

Old English spīr. Cognate with Dutch spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir, Swedish spira.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /spʌɪə/

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