spare

B2 Topic:Time

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.

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

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

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# 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
- Time

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spare

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