spartan

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   resolute in the face of pain or danger or adversity

   spartan courage

2. 2
   adj

   Austere, frugal, characterized by self-denial.

   I went on the retreat to the monastery, thinking I would be sleeping in a spartan cell, only to discover a simple but comfortable bedroom.

3. 3
   adj

   Resolute in the face of danger or adversity.

   The spartan legionaries vowed to fight to the death.

4. 4
   adj

   Lacking in decoration and luxury.

   After ten years as a fashion designer in the rough-and-tumble Garment District, Eloise left New York for the spartan but serene life of a farmer's wife.

5. 5
   adj

   practicing great self-denial

6. 6
   adj

   unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment

7. 7
   adj

   of or relating to or characteristic of Sparta or its people

8. 8
   noun

   A citizen of Sparta; a native or inhabitant of Sparta.

Etymology

From Middle English Spartan, Spertan, from Latin Spartānus, from Sparta + -ānus, equivalent to Sparta + -an.