spade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a digging tool with a flat blade and a handle

   He cut the turf with a sharp spade.

2. 2
   noun

   one of the black suits in a deck of playing cards, shaped like a pointed leaf

   She led with the ace of spades.

3. 3
   verb

   to dig or turn over soil with a spade

   We spaded compost into the flower beds.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Spade in the sense of a digging tool is an Old English word related to Greek spathē, “blade” or “paddle.” The playing-card spade has a separate origin: it appeared in the 16th century and derives from Italian spada, “broad-bladed sword.”

The tool word is Germanic, while the card-suit sense was influenced by Italian spade, plural of spada, "sword," from Latin spatha. The suit name comes from the pointed shape.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary