spice
English · Thesaurus
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spice¹
- /spaɪs/
Rhymes with -aɪs
Where it comes from
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.
noun spices
- Aromatic or pungent plant matter (usually dried) used to season or flavor food. Vanilla itself was transplanted from Madagascar, the main source of the spice, to Polynesia a century ago.
-
The quality of being spicy.
What spice level do you want for your pad thai? I recommend mild.
Similar: spiciness
- Appeal, interest; an attribute that makes something appealing, interesting, or engaging. variety is the spice of life
- A psychoactive neocannabinoid.
- Sweets, candy. Let's go daan to t'spice shop an see what they've i stock
- Species; kind.
- A characteristic touch or taste; smack; flavour. "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
- An aromatic odor.
- Erotic or pornographic material, usually in written form; smut.
- An additional input parameter used as a secondary, non-secret key in the Hasty Pudding cipher.
verb spices · spicing · spiced
- To add spice or spices to; season. Madame de Pompadour was fond of chocolates spiced with vanilla and amber.
- To spice up. City Men is pretty much the same kind of sentimental comedy spiced with wisecracks as The Women, a disappointingly familiar genre.
spice²
- /spaɪs/
Rhymes with -aɪs
Where it comes from
Formed by analogy with lice and mice as the plurals of louse and mouse.
First attested use Christopher Morley in “Morley's Magnum” (1935).
Made popular by Robert A. Heinlein in Time Enough for Love (1973).
noun
- plural of spouse
SPICE³
- /spaɪs/
Rhymes with -aɪs
proper noun
- Acronym of Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis, a general-purpose, open-source analog electronic circuit simulator.
Spice⁴
proper noun Spices
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: zest, spicery, spiciness, spice up, pepper, chili, chilli, herb, dill, rosemary, gravy, sauce, spicy, seasoning, sculpin, fragrance
Translations
Every language
noun plant matter used to season or flavour food
| Español | especia |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 향신료 hyangsinnyo |
| 日本語 | 香辛料 kōshinryō, スパイス supaisu |
| 中文 | 香料 xiāngliào |
| हिन्दी | मसाला masālā |
| Kiswahili | kiungo |
| Português | especiaria, tempero |
| Français | épices |
| Deutsch | Würze, Gewürz |
| Italiano | spezie |
| Ελληνικά | καρύκευμα karýkevma, μπαχαρικό bacharikó, μπαχάρι bachári |
| Română | condiment |
| Русский | пря́ность prjánostʹ, спе́ция spécija, припра́ва pripráva |
| Tiếng Việt | gia vị, hương liệu |
| العربية | بَهَار bahār, تَوَابِل tawābil |
| עברית | תַּבְלִין tavlín |
noun any variety of spice
| Español | especia, aliño, condimento, aderezo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 향신료 hyangsinnyo |
| 日本語 | 香辛料 kōshinryō, スパイス supaisu |
| 中文 | 香料 xiāngliào |
| Kiswahili | kiungo |
| Português | tempero |
| Français | épice |
| Deutsch | Gewürz |
| Italiano | spezia |
| Ελληνικά | καρύκευμα karýkevma, μπαχαρικό bacharikó, μπαχάρι bachári |
| Русский | пря́ность prjánostʹ, спе́ция spécija |
Talk about this word "spice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spice. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. spice. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spice "spice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spice.Cite this
@misc{spice_2026,
title = {spice},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spice},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
