spice
Appearance
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English spice, from Old French espice (modern épice), an old borrowing from Late Latin speciēs (“spice(s), good(s), ware(s)”), from Latin speciēs (“kind, sort”). Doublet of species.
Noun
[edit]spice (countable and uncountable, plural spices)
- (countable, uncountable) Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavour food.
- (uncountable) The quality of being spicy.
- Synonym: spiciness
- What spice level do you want for your pad thai? I recommend mild.
- (figurative, uncountable) Appeal, interest; an attribute that makes something appealing, interesting, or engaging.
- 1979 April 28, Allen Young, “The Joy of Gay Lit”, in Gay Community News: The Gay Weekly, volume 6, number 39, Boston, Mass., →ISSN, page 13, column 3:
- Honor, a[sic] 18-year-old high school student who thinks she has it more together than her fellow students and who looks to both Leslie and Bernie to provide friendship and spice in her life.
- (uncountable) A synthetic cannabinoid drug.
- (uncountable, Yorkshire) Sweets, candy.
- Let's go daan to t'spice shop an see what they've i stock
- (obsolete) Species; kind.
- A characteristic touch or taste; smack; flavour.
- An aromatic odour.
- (uncountable, Internet slang) Erotic or pornographic material, usually written; smut.
Hypernyms
[edit]Hyponyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:seasoning
Coordinate terms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- allspice
- golden spice
- hunger is the best spice
- king of spices
- mixed spice
- Montreal steak spice
- pudding spice
- pumpkin pie spice
- pumpkin-pie spice
- pumpkin spice
- pumpkin-spice latte
- pumpkin spice latte
- queen of spices
- spice bag
- spiceberry
- spicebush
- spice drop
- spice fiend
- spice rack
- spicery
- spiciness
- spicy
- sugar and spice
- sugar and spice and everything nice
- table spice
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]plant matter used to season or flavour food
|
any variety of spice
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Verb
[edit]spice (third-person singular simple present spices, present participle spicing, simple past and past participle spiced)
- (transitive) To add spice or spices to; season.
- (transitive) To spice up.
- 1985 February 2, Nicholas Deutsch, “City Men (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 28, page 19:
- City Men is pretty much the same kind of sentimental comedy spiced with wisecracks as The Women, a disappointingly familiar genre.
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to add spice or spices to
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Further reading
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Formed by analogy with lice and mice as the plurals of louse and mouse. First attested use Christopher Morley in “Morley's Magnum” (1935).[1] Made popular by Robert A. Heinlein in Time Enough for Love (1973).
Noun
[edit]spice
- (nonce word, usually humorous) plural of spouse
References
[edit]- ^ Christopher Morley. (n.d.). AZQuotes.com. Retrieved February 01, 2019, from AZQuotes.com Web site: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1325627
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “spice”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
[edit]Latin
[edit]Verb
[edit]spice
Lower Sorbian
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]spice
- inflection of spicy:
Participle
[edit]spice
- inflection of spicy:
Middle English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old French espice, (modern épice), an old borrowing from Late Latin speciēs.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]spice (plural spices)
- spices (powders used to flavour meals or dishes):
- Spices as used as scents or to enhance the smell of something.
- Spices as used in medicinal preparations; by extension, medicine in general.
- Spices as used in alchemical preparations.
- A variety, sort, or kind of something:
- A distinct kind of creature; a species.
- A type of disease or affliction.
- A type of sinful behaviour or action; an action or behaviour in general.
- A part, especially of a discipline or line of study.
- A seeming or presence; the way something looks from the outside:
- (philosophy) The perception of something using any sense or innate ability.
- (Christianity) The communion wafer when transubstantiated.
- (rare) An appearance or image (either mental or real)
- A meal (usually sweet) incorporating spices.
- A plant which spices are made from.
- (rare) A complimentary appellation.
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “spīce, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-24.
- “spīce, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-24.
Old English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]spiċe
Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪs
- Rhymes:English/aɪs/1 syllable
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *speḱ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- Yorkshire English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English internet slang
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English non-lemma forms
- English noun forms
- English nonce terms
- English humorous terms
- English plurals with umlaut
- en:Spices and herbs
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms
- Lower Sorbian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Lower Sorbian non-lemma forms
- Lower Sorbian adjective forms
- Lower Sorbian participle forms
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *speḱ-
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Late Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- enm:Philosophy
- enm:Christianity
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- enm:Alchemy
- enm:Disease
- enm:Foods
- enm:Medicine
- enm:Smell
- enm:Spices
- enm:Taxonomy
- enm:Theology
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English non-lemma forms
- Old English noun forms