spad

See also: SPAD, spád, späd, spað, spáð, and спад

English

Etymology 1

Shortening of special adviser.

Alternative forms

• SpAd, SpAD

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. (UK politics, informal) A government adviser, often in a political or media role.
   • 1997 November, Reddy Hannah with Wimbush, Angela and Linesberry, Debbie, “Abbreviations and Acronyms”, in Dr. Russell G. Swenson, editor, Defense and Intelligence Abbreviations and Acronyms‎^[1], Washington, DC: Joint Military Intelligence College, archived from the original on 18 September 2017, page 192:

     SPAD Special Advisor

   • 2009, Ben Wright, Hidden world of the political advisers‎^[2], BBC:

     A successful stint as a spad can be a crucial political apprenticeship - as many of the current crop of professional politicians including the Miliband brothers, David Cameron and George Osborne can testify - so long as they stay in the dark.

   • 2012, Avoid The Thick of It-style spad appointments, ministers told, The Guardian:

     The hit BBC sitcom satirising the inner workings of Whitehall and the so-called spads contains "more than a grain of truth", the head of the cross-party public administration select committee has warned.

Etymology 2

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. (mining) A nail one or two inches long, of iron, brass, tin, or tinner iron, with a hole through the flattened head, used to mark stations in underground surveying.

Etymology 3

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. Clipping of spadona/spadone.
   • 1911 September, contributed by Cyphers Incubator Co., “Ostrich Farming in South Africa”, in American Poultry World, volume II, number 11, Buffalo, N.Y.: American Poultry Publishing Co., page 966:

     No. 6.—Spadonas or spads, the first wing-quills of the chick, clipped at about six months.

   • 1921 September 7, The New York Times, volume LXX, number 23,237, New York, N.Y., page 24, column 6:

     RAW OSTRICH FEATHERS / Primes, Wings, White Feminas, Spads, Etc.

   • 1924 February 12, “On Ostrich Feathers”, in The Manchester Guardian, number 24,175, page 6, column 4:

     “What d’you mean—‘feathers’,” asked the tanned young public school man who volunteered to trot me round, “spads, second-after-chicks, fancies, natals, black butts, adults, juvenals, byocks, chicks, primes, feminas, or what?” […] The first white ones we call spads. […] Two or three months after that clipping we pull out the spad quills.

   • 1959, The Standard Bank Review, The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, page 15:

     An improvement was noted in the demand for femina wings, spads and long bodies;

Anagrams

• DAPs, daps, PADS, pads, APDs, PDAs, APDS, ASPD, SaPD

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈspat]

Noun

spad m inan

1. fallout

Declension

Declension of spad (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	spad	spady
genitive	spadu	spadů
dative	spadu	spadům
accusative	spad	spady
vocative	spade	spady
locative	spadu	spadech
instrumental	spadem	spady

Further reading

• “spad”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “spad”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

spad

1. imperative of spada

Polish

Etymology

Deverbal of spadać.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspat/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: spad

Noun

spad m inan

1. (printing) bleed
2. windfall (fallen nut or fruit)
3. (collective) fallen nuts or fruit
4. slope, gradient

Declension

Declension of spad

	singular	plural
nominative	spad	spady
genitive	spadu	spadów
dative	spadowi	spadom
accusative	spad	spady
instrumental	spadem	spadami
locative	spadzie	spadach
vocative	spadzie	spady

Further reading

• spad in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• spad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sbad/

Verb

spad (past spad, future spadaidh, verbal noun spadadh, past participle spadte)

1. to flatten
2. to floor, to knock down
3. to kill

Conjugation

Conjugation of spad (regular)

stem		spad
verbal noun		spadadh
past participle		spadta
		singular			plural			impersonal
		first	second	third m/f	first	second	third
independent	past	spad mi	spad thu	spad e/i	spad sinn	spad sibh	spad iad	spadadh
	future	spadaidh mi	spadaidh tu	spadaidh e/i	spadaidh sinn	spadaidh sibh	spadaidh iad	spadar spadtar
	conditional	spadainn	spadadh tu	spadadh e/i	spadamaid spadadh sinn	spadadh sibh	spadadh iad	spadtadh spadaist1 spadaiste1
negative	past	cha do spad mi	cha do spad thu	cha do spad e/i	cha do spad sinn	cha do spad sibh	cha do spad iad	cha do spadadh
	future	cha spad mi	cha spad thu	cha spad e/i	cha spad sinn	cha spad sibh	cha spad iad	cha spadar cha spadtar
	conditional	cha spadainn	cha spadadh tu	cha spadadh e/i	cha spadamaid cha spadadh sinn	cha spadadh sibh	cha spadadh iad	cha spadtadh cha spadaist1 cha spadaiste1
affirmative interrogative	past	an do spad mi?	an do spad thu?	an do spad e/i?	an do spad sinn?	an do spad sibh?	an do spad iad?	an do spadadh?
	future	an spad mi?	an spad thu?	an spad e/i?	an spad sinn?	an spad sibh?	an spad iad?	an spadar? an spadtar?
	conditional	an spadainn?	an spadadh tu?	an spadadh e/i?	an spadamaid? an spadadh sinn?	an spadadh sibh?	an spadadh iad?	an spadtadh? an spadaist?1 an spadaiste?1
negative interrogative	past	nach do spad mi?	nach do spad thu?	nach do spad e/i?	nach do spad sinn?	nach do spad sibh?	nach do spad iad?	nach do spadadh?
	future	nach spad mi?	nach spad thu?	nach spad e/i?	nach spad sinn?	nach spad sibh?	nach spad iad?	nach spadar? nach spadtar?
	conditional	nach spadainn?	nach spadadh tu?	nach spadadh e/i?	nach spadamaid? nach spadadh sinn?	nach spadadh sibh?	nach spadadh iad?	nach spadtadh? nach spadaist?1 nach spadaiste?1
relative future	affirmative	(ma) spadas mi	(ma) spadas thu	(ma) spadas e/i	(ma) spadas sinn	(ma) spadas sibh	(ma) spadas iad	(ma) spadar
	negative	(mur) spad mi	(mur) spad thu	(mur) spad e/i	(mur) spad sinn	(mur) spad sibh	(mur) spad iad	(mur) spadar (mur) spadtar
imperative		spadam	spad	spadadh e/i	spadamaid	spadaibh	spadadh iad	spadar spadtar

¹ Lewis dialect form

References

“spad” in Am Faclair Beag - Scottish Gaelic Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish spadh. Cognate with Icelandic spað and Danish spad.

Noun

spad n

1. (cooking) broth, decoction (water that something has been boiled in (whether used as an ingredient or not))

   korvspad

   sausage broth (water that sausages have been boiled in)

2. (colloquial, usually in the shortened definite form "spat") lake- or seawater, drink

   trilla i spa(de)t

   fall into the drink

Usage notes

Colloquial sense often used in the abbreviated definite singular form spat, for example hoppa i spat ("jump in the water") or trilla i spat ("fall in the water").

Declension

Declension of spad

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	spad	spads
	definite	spadet	spadets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• klart som korvspad

See also

• buljong
• fond

References

• spad in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• spad in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• spad in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• spad in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)