spare

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /spɛɚ/ UK /spɛə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #1771

Meanings

1

adj
Kept in reserve and ready to be used if needed; extra.

Always keep a spare tire in the trunk of your car.
2

verb
To be able to give someone time, money, or something you have without needing it yourself.

Could you spare a few minutes to help me?
3

verb
To save someone from having to experience something unpleasant.

I'll spare you the boring details of the meeting.
4

adj
Plain and simple, with nothing extra; not plentiful.

They lived on a spare diet of bread and soup.
5

adj
Thin and lean.

He had the spare figure of a marathon runner.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · kept in reserve and ready... extra

2 verb · to be able to give someone... give uppart with

5 adj · thin and lean. trim

Word family

Forms sparedsparelysparersparessparestsparing

Derived forms forsparenonsparespangespangerspareablesparefulsparelesssparelysparenesssparersparyunspare

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

spare key
an extra key kept as a backup in case the main one is lost

Adjective + noun
spare room
a room not in regular use, often set aside for guests

Adjective + noun
spare cash
money left over after essential expenses

Adjective + noun
spare part
an extra component kept in reserve to replace a worn or broken one

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Spare the rod, and spoil the child

Simplified etymology

Spare in the senses “extra” and “avoid harming” is an Old English word. The spare in spare ribs has a separate origin: the phrase probably comes from old German ribbesper, “pickled pork ribs roasted on a spit,” whose two parts were reversed in English during the 16th century.

Etymology

From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

spare Middle English spær Old English *sparaz Proto-Germanic *sph₁rós Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# spare

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj, verb
**IPA (US):** /spɛɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /spɛə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 1771

## Meanings
1. Kept in reserve and ready to be used if needed; extra.
2. To be able to give someone time, money, or something you have without needing it yourself.
3. To save someone from having to experience something unpleasant.
4. Plain and simple, with nothing extra; not plentiful.
5. Thin and lean.

## Examples
- Always keep a spare tire in the trunk of your car.
- Could you spare a few minutes to help me?
- I'll spare you the boring details of the meeting.
- They lived on a spare diet of bread and soup.
- He had the spare figure of a marathon runner.

## Derived Forms
- forspare
- nonspare
- spange
- spanger
- spareable
- spareful
- spareless
- sparely
- spareness
- sparer
- spary
- unspare

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spare
- Root: spær
- Root: *sparaz
- Root: *sph₁rós

## Etymology
From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

## AI Etymology
Spare is from Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English spare, Old English spær, Proto-Germanic *sparaz, Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós. In current use it includes senses such as Kept in reserve and ready to be used if needed; extra and To be able to give someone time, money, or something you have without needing it yourself.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown