Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous. · Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency. · Not occupied or in current use. · Scant; not abundant or plentiful.
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”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionspareenm
- Inherited-form mentionspærang
- Inherited-form mention*sparazgem-pro
- Inherited-form mention*sph₁rósine-pro
- Cognate mentionspaarzaamnl
- Cognate mentionsparsamde
- Cognate mentionsparsamsv
- Cognate mentionsparris
- Cognate mentionprosperusla · lucky
- Cognate mentionспоръcu · plentiful
- Cognate mentionshperrsq · earn money
- Cognate mentionسپارfa · entrust; deposit
- Cognate mentionσπαρνόςgrc · rare
- Cognate mentionस्फिरsa · thick
This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "spare"
},
"expansion": "Middle English spare"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "spær",
"4": "",
"5": "sparing, scant"
},
"expansion": "Old English spær (“sparing, scant”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*sparaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *sparaz"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*sph₁rós"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "spaarzaam",
"3": "spaar(zaam)"
},
"expansion": "Dutch spaar(zaam)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "sparsam",
"3": "spar(sam)"
},
"expansion": "German spar(sam)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "sparsam",
"3": "spar(sam)"
},
"expansion": "Swedish spar(sam)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "sparr",
"3": "",
"4": "sparing"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic sparr (“sparing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "prosperus",
"3": "(pro)sperus",
"t": "lucky"
},
"expansion": "Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cu",
"2": "споръ",
"t": "plentiful"
},
"expansion": "Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sq",
"2": "shperr",
"t": "earn money"
},
"expansion": "Albanian shperr (“earn money”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fa",
"2": "سپار",
"tr": "sepâr",
"t": "entrust; deposit"
},
"expansion": "Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "σπαρνός",
"t": "rare"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sa",
"2": "स्फिर",
"tr": "sphirá",
"t": "thick"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"spare",
"spare#Middle_English"
],
[
"spar",
"spar#Middle_English"
],
[
"spær",
"spær#Old_English"
],
[
"*sparaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sparaz"
],
[
"*sph₁rós",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sph₁rós"
],
[
"*speh₁-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/speh₁-"
],
[
"spaar(zaam)",
"spaarzaam#Dutch"
],
[
"spar(sam)",
"sparsam#German"
],
[
"spär(lich)",
"spärlich#German"
],
[
"spar(sam)",
"sparsam#Swedish"
],
[
"sparr",
"sparr#Icelandic"
],
[
"(pro)sperus",
"prosperus#Latin"
],
[
"споръ",
"споръ#Old_Church_Slavonic"
],
[
"shperr",
"shperr#Albanian"
],
[
"سپار",
"سپار#Persian"
],
[
"σπαρνός",
"σπαρνός#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"स्फिर",
"स्फिर#Sanskrit"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Welsh",
"lang_code": "cy",
"word": "sbâr",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.",
"Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.",
"Not occupied or in current use.",
"Scant; not abundant or plentiful."
],
"tags": [],
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