spire
pronunciation
How to pronounce spire in British English:
UK [ˈspaɪə(r)]
How to pronounce spire in American English:
US [spaɪr]
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- Noun:
- a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building (usually a church or temple) and that tapers to a point at the top
Word Origin
- spire (n.)
- Old English spir "a sprout, shoot, spike, blade, tapering stalk of grass," from Proto-Germanic *spiraz (cognates: Old Norse spira "a stalk, slender tree," Dutch spier "shoot, blade of grass," Middle Low German spir "a small point or top"), from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). Meaning "tapering top of a tower or steeple" first recorded 1590s (a sense attested in Middle Low German since late 14c. and also found in the Scandinavian cognates).
- spire (v.)
- early 14c., "send up shoots," from spire (n.). Related: Spired; spiring.
Example
- 1. Its distinctive spire is known as the phare du quartier the neighbourhood lighthouse !
- 2. Two of many ideas preceded steinbrueck 's design input : a tethered balloon and a space ship on thin spire .
- 3. Roof and spire and darkened vane
- 4. Wherever one looks , the spire of a church or mosque pops into the skyline .
- 5. The bodies will be placed in individual graves in the shadow of the church spire in the first war cemetery to be built in half a century , only a few hundred yards from where they have lain for so long .