spire

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A tall, pointed structure on top of a tower or church roof.

   The cathedral's spire rose high above the town.

2. 2
   noun

   A sharp, narrowing point at the top of something.

   The dark spires of the fir trees stood against the evening sky.

From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.

Topics