# spade
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /speɪ̯d/
** Audio (US):(file)
** Audio (General Australian):(file)
* (Scotland) IPA: /sped/
* Rhymes: -eɪd
* Homophone: spayed (except Scotland)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (“spade”), from Proto-Germanic *spadô. Doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée.

#### Noun

spade (plural spades)
* A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
** [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:'Make your mind easy,' Ratsey said; 'I have dug too often in this graveyard for any to wonder if they see me with a spade.'
** 2021 October 6, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Labour: build HS2 and NPR and end "paper promises"”, in RAIL, number 941, page 25:"[...] And not a single spade has gone in the ground - not a single mile of track built."
* A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.
* (Can we verify this sense?) (furry fandom, vulgar) The vulva of canine species.

##### Derived terms

* bucket and spade
* call a spade a bloody shovel
* call a spade a fucking shovel
* call a spade a shovel
* call a spade a spade
* call a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel
* call a spade a spade, not a big spoon
* peat spade
* spade foot
* spadefoot
* spade-foot
* spade fork
* spadeful
* spade-handed
* spadelike
* spade-man
* spade man
* spade mashie
* spade money
* spade-toothed whale
* spadework
* spade-worker
* spadeworker
* turf spade

##### Descendants

* → Scottish Gaelic: spaid
* → Fiji Hindi: sipi

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Verb

spade (third-person singular simple present spades, present participle spading, simple past and past participle spaded)
* To turn over soil with a spade to loosen the ground for planting.

##### Derived terms

* spader

### Etymology 2

Probably from Italian spade, plural of spada (“the ace of spades”, literally “sword, spade”), from earlier *spata, from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπᾰ́θη (spắthē). Cognate with Etymology 1. So called for the shape, though what the shape was exactly meant to represent has been debated.

#### Noun

spade (plural spades)
* (card games) A playing card marked with the symbol ♠.
    I've got only one spade in my hand.
* (offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
** 1929, Wallace Thurman, The Blacker the Berry, New York: Collier Books, published 1970, →ISBN, page 161:And as for a divorce, I know plenty spades right here in Harlem get married any time they want to.
** 1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:Example: Max was in a hospital in New York and "the night nurse was a groovy spade, and in the afternoon for therapy there was a chick from Israel who was interesting, but there was nothing much to do in the morning, so I left".
** 1968, Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Bantam, published 1997, →ISBN, page 9:It had even gotten to the point that Negroes were no longer in the hip scene, not even as totem figures. It was unbelievable. Spades, the very soul figures of Hip, of jazz, of the hip vocabulary itself, man and like dig and baby and scarf and split and later and so fine, of civil rights and graduating from Reed College and living on North Beach, down Mason, and balling spade cats—all that good elaborate petting and patting and pouring soul all over the spades—all over, finished, incredibly.

### Etymology 3
#### Verb

spade
* (obsolete) simple past and past participle of spay

##### Derived terms

* in spades
* royal spade

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

##### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “spade (n.2)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* adeps, apsed, paeds, pedas

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈspaːdə/
* Audio:(file)

### Alternative forms

* spa

### Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch spade, from Old Dutch *spado, from Proto-Germanic *spadô.

#### Noun

spade m (plural spaden or spades)
* spade

### Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch spâde, from Old Dutch *spādi, from Proto-Germanic *spēdiz (“late”).

#### Adjective

spade (comparative spader, superlative spaadst)
* (archaic) late

##### Synonyms

* laat

## Finnish
### Etymology

Possibly from pata (“pot”) (perhaps through English spade, since spades (the card suit) are also called pata in Finnish).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈspɑde/, [ˈs̠pɑ̝de̞]
* Rhymes: -ɑde
* Hyphenation: spa‧de

### Noun

spade
* (military slang) field cook
    Synonym: sotilaskeittäjä

#### Declension

Possessive forms of spade (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
spadeni
spadeni
accusative
nom.
spadeni
spadeni
gen.
spadeni
genitive
spadeni
spadejeni spadeini $^{rare}$
partitive
spadeani
spadejani
inessive
spadessani
spadeissani
elative
spadestani
spadeistani
illative
spadeeni
spadeihini
adessive
spadellani
spadeillani
ablative
spadeltani
spadeiltani
allative
spadelleni
spadeilleni
essive
spadenani
spadeinani
translative
spadekseni
spadeikseni
abessive
spadettani
spadeittani
instructive
comitative
—spadeineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
spadesi
spadesi
accusative
nom.
spadesi
spadesi
gen.
spadesi
genitive
spadesi
spadejesi spadeisi $^{rare}$
partitive
spadeasi
spadejasi
inessive
spadessasi
spadeissasi
elative
spadestasi
spadeistasi
illative
spadeesi
spadeihisi
adessive
spadellasi
spadeillasi
ablative
spadeltasi
spadeiltasi
allative
spadellesi
spadeillesi
essive
spadenasi
spadeinasi
translative
spadeksesi
spadeiksesi
abessive
spadettasi
spadeittasi
instructive
comitative
—spadeinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
spademme
spademme
accusative
nom.
spademme
spademme
gen.
spademme
genitive
spademme
spadejemme spadeimme $^{rare}$
partitive
spadeamme
spadejamme
inessive
spadessamme
spadeissamme
elative
spadestamme
spadeistamme
illative
spadeemme
spadeihimme
adessive
spadellamme
spadeillamme
ablative
spadeltamme
spadeiltamme
allative
spadellemme
spadeillemme
essive
spadenamme
spadeinamme
translative
spadeksemme
spadeiksemme
abessive
spadettamme
spadeittamme
instructive
comitative
—spadeinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
spadenne
spadenne
accusative
nom.
spadenne
spadenne
gen.
spadenne
genitive
spadenne
spadejenne spadeinne $^{rare}$
partitive
spadeanne
spadejanne
inessive
spadessanne
spadeissanne
elative
spadestanne
spadeistanne
illative
spadeenne
spadeihinne
adessive
spadellanne
spadeillanne
ablative
spadeltanne
spadeiltanne
allative
spadellenne
spadeillenne
essive
spadenanne
spadeinanne
translative
spadeksenne
spadeiksenne
abessive
spadettanne
spadeittanne
instructive
comitative
—spadeinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
spadensa
spadensa
accusative
nom.
spadensa
spadensa
gen.
spadensa
genitive
spadensa
spadejensa spadeinsa $^{rare}$
partitive
spadeaan spadeansa
spadejaan spadejansa
inessive
spadessaan spadessansa
spadeissaan spadeissansa
elative
spadestaan spadestansa
spadeistaan spadeistansa
illative
spadeensa
spadeihinsa
adessive
spadellaan spadellansa
spadeillaan spadeillansa
ablative
spadeltaan spadeltansa
spadeiltaan spadeiltansa
allative
spadelleen spadellensa
spadeilleen spadeillensa
essive
spadenaan spadenansa
spadeinaan spadeinansa
translative
spadekseen spadeksensa
spadeikseen spadeiksensa
abessive
spadettaan spadettansa
spadeittaan spadeittansa
instructive
comitative
—spadeineen spadeinensa :

## Friulian
### Etymology

From Latin spatha (“a type of sword”), from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “broad blade”).

### Noun

spade f (plural spadis)
* sword

## Italian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈspa.de/
* Rhymes: -ade
* Hyphenation: spà‧de

### Noun

spade f
* plural of spada

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* spad

### Etymology

From Old English spadu.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈspaːd(ə)/

### Noun

spade (plural spades)
* tool for digging, shovel

#### Descendants

* English: spade
* Scots: spade, spaid
* Yola: spaade

#### References

* “spāde, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Middle Low German spade and Old Norse spaði, jarnspaði.

### Noun

spade m (definite singular spaden, indefinite plural spader, definite plural spadene)
* spade (a garden tool)
    kalle en spade for en spade ― call a spade a spade
* spadeful
    tre spader jord ― three spadefuls of earth

### References

* “spade” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* spåddå (dialectal, Trøndelag dialect)
* spa (dialectal)

### Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse spaði.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /²spɑː(d)ə/

### Noun

spade m (definite singular spaden, indefinite plural spadar, definite plural spadane)
* spade, shovel (a garden tool)
    kalle ein spade for ein spade ― call a spade a spade
* spadeful
    ein spade sand ― a spadeful of sand

#### Synonyms

* hake (“(wooden) shovel”)
* rokko (“(wooden) shovel”) (dialectal)

#### Derived terms

* steikespade

### Verb

spade (present tense spader, past tense spadde, past participle spadd or spadt, present participle spadande, imperative spad)
* Alternative form of spa

### References

* “spade” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈspɑ.de/

### Noun

spade
* inflection of spadu:
** nominative plural
** accusative singular/plural
** genitive/dative singular

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Old Norse spaði, from Middle Low German spade, from Proto-Germanic *spadô.

### Noun

spade c
* shovel
    Synonyms: (more specific) skyffel, (large broad curved) skovel
* a spade (a garden tool)

#### Related terms

* spada
* spader
* spadformad
* spadhandtag
* spadharv
* spadtag
* spadvända
* spadvändning

### References

* spade in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)