spice
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: computing
cryptography
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti
Proto-Italic *spekjō
Late Latin speciō
Proto-Italic *-jēs
Late Latin -iēs
Late Latin speciēs
Old French espicebor.
Anglo-Norman specebor.
Middle English spice
English spice
Inherited from Middle English spice, from Old French espice (modern épice), from Late Latin speciēs (“spice, good, ware”), from Latin speciēs (“kind, sort”). Doublet of species.
Inflected forms:
form: spices
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: spices
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: spicing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: spiced
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: spiced
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Vanilla itself was transplanted from Madagascar, the main source of the spice, to Polynesia a century ago.
gloss: The quality of being spicy.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: What spice level do you want for your pad thai? I recommend mild.
gloss: Appeal, interest; an attribute that makes something appealing, interesting, or engaging.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
uncountable
examples: variety is the spice of life
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.
gloss: A psychoactive neocannabinoid.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: Sweets, candy.
pos: noun
tags: Yorkshire
uncountable
examples: Let's go daan to t'spice shop an see what they've i stock
gloss: Species; kind.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
gloss: A characteristic touch or taste; smack; flavour.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: "I'm not going to promise anything after the perfectly fetid way you're running off," she retorted. "Still, it's pretty obvious that I shall stay here and do what I can for poor Geoffrey in the circumstances." It occurred to the hearer […] that there was a spice of "It is my duty and I will" in this praiseworthy resolve which fell short of the ecstatic resolution of the Saturday Nora.
gloss: An aromatic odor.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Erotic or pornographic material, usually in written form; smut.
pos: noun
tags: Internet
uncountable
gloss: An additional input parameter used as a secondary, non-secret key in the Hasty Pudding cipher.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: To add spice or spices to; season.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Madame de Pompadour was fond of chocolates spiced with vanilla and amber.
gloss: To spice up.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: City Men is pretty much the same kind of sentimental comedy spiced with wisecracks as The Women, a disappointingly familiar genre.
Related words: five-spice powder
herbs and spices
spicy tooth
variety is the spice of life
Derived words: allspice
bespice
golden spice
hunger is the best spice
king of spices
mixed spice
Montreal steak spice
pondspice
pudding spice
pumpkin pie spice
pumpkin-pie spice
pumpkin spice
pumpkin-spice latte
pumpkin spice latte
queen of spices
spice bag
spiceberry
spicebox
spice brown
spicebush
spice drop
spice fiend
spice finch
spiceful
spicehead
spicehouse
spiceland
spiceless
spicelike
spicenut
spice rack
spicery
spicewise
spicewood
spiciness
spicy
sugar and spice
sugar and spice and everything nice
table spice
overspice
spice up
Translations: