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spare

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spare¹

  • /spɛə(ɹ)/ UK
  • /spɛɚ/ US
  • /speː/ Australia
  • /speə/ New Zealand
  • /spiə/
  • /speɹ/ Scotland
  • /spɜː(ɹ)/

Sounds like spear (cheer–chair merger), spur (fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-.

Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

adjective sparer · sparest

  1. Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous. I have no spare time.
  2. Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency. a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre
  3. Not occupied or in current use. We could rent out the spare room.
  4. Scant; not abundant or plentiful. a spare diet
  5. Austere, stripped down, without what is extraneous. I’m naked to the bone, With nakedness my shield. Myself is what I wear: I keep the spirit spare.
  6. Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money. He was spare, […]but discreet of speech.
  7. Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt. O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.
  8. UK, informal Very angry; frustrated or distraught. When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare.

noun spares

  1. The act of sparing; moderation; restraint. men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses
  2. Parsimony; frugal use. Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare:
  3. An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
  4. That which has not been used or expended.
  5. especially A spare tire. I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]
  6. Any car part or comparable machine part in a supply chain. People sometimes forget that world-class logistics also involve inventory management in warehouses full of spares.
  7. A superfluous or second-best person. an heir and a spare
  8. The right of bowling again at a full set of pins, after having knocked all the pins down in less than three bowls. If all the pins are knocked down in one bowl it is a double spare; in two bowls, a single spare.
  9. The act of knocking down all remaining pins in second ball of a frame; this entitles the pins knocked down on the next ball to be added to the score for that frame.
  10. Canada A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class. I also remember watching David Letterman's short-lived morning show on TV when I had a spare during my school schedule.
  11. Myanmar assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries)

spare²

  • /spɛə(ɹ)/ UK
  • /spɛɚ/ US
  • /speː/ Australia
  • /speə/ New Zealand
  • /spiə/
  • /speɹ/ Scotland
  • /spɜː(ɹ)/

Sounds like spear (cheer–chair merger), spur (fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English sparen, sparien, from Old English sparian (“to spare, show mercy to, refrain from injuring or destroying”), from Proto-Germanic *sparōną, *sparāną (“to save, keep, spare”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to be productive, earn”).

Cognate with Scots spar, spare, spair (“to spare”), West Frisian sparje (“to save, spare”), Dutch sparen (“to save, spare”), German sparen (“to save, conserve, economise”), Swedish spara (“to save, save up”), Icelandic spara (“to save, conserve”).

verb spares · sparing · spared · spare

  1. intransitive To desist; to stop; to refrain.
  2. intransitive To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
  3. transitive To preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards. For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
  4. specifically, transitive To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed. Kill me, if you please, or spare me.
  5. intransitive To be frugal; to not be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious. I, who at some times spend, at others spare, / Divided between carelessness and care.
  6. transitive To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give. Thou that day / Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare
  7. transitive To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty. All the time he could spare from the necessary cares of his weighty charge, from assaults, and the naturall refreshing of his body, be bestowed in praier and seruing of God
  8. transitive (to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with. Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.

Spare³

Where it comes from

From spare, a nickname for a frugal person.

proper noun Spares

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: scanty, meagerly, meager, bare, thin, trim, redundant, unoccupied, dispense with, unneeded, unnecessary, free, superfluous, part with, give up, surplus

Translations

Every language

adj being over and above what is necessary

Deutschüberschüssig, überflüssig
Italianosuperfluo, ulteriore
Русскийли́шний líšnij

adj held in reserve

Españolde reserva, de repuesto, de recambio / refacción / retén
Françaisrechange
DeutschReserve-
Italianodi scorta, di riserva, di ricambio
Русскийзапасно́й zapasnój

adj not occupied

Españolde sobra, de más
Deutschfrei, unbenutzt

adj scanty, not abundant or plentiful

Deutschspärlich, dürftig
Italianoscarso
Русскийуме́ренный umérennyj, скудный skudnyj

adj sparing

Deutschsparsam
Italianofrugale, parsimonioso
Русскийскупой skupoj

adj lean, meager — see also lean

Deutschschlank
Italianomagro, smilzo

noun Translations

Españolrepuesto, recambio, refacción, retén

verb to show mercy

Españolperdonar, no adolorar, mostrar misericordia a, ser misericorde con, apiadar (se de), dejar a salvo
Deutschsparen
Italianorisparmiare
Русскийщади́ть ščadítʹ, ми́ловать mílovatʹ, пощади́ть poščadítʹ, поми́ловать pomílovatʹ
العربيةرَحِمَ raḥima

verb to be frugal

Deutschsparen

verb to keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give

Españolahorrarse, no venirle con, holgar, sobrar, estar de más, evitarle

verb to reserve from occupation, use or duty

Españolahorrar
Françaisépargner
Deutschsparen
Italianorisparmiare
Русскийжале́ть žalétʹ

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Cite this
MLA

"spare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spare. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spare. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spare

Chicago

"spare." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spare.

BibTeX
@misc{spare_2026,
  title = {spare},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spare},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}