spark

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /spɑːk/, US /spɑːrk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English spearca, spærca (before 800),^[2][3][4] from *spark-,^[2][3] cognate with Middle Low German and Middle Dutch sparke;^[2][3][5] Hoad calls it of unknown origin,^[4] while Barnhart compares Latvian spiřgsti, glowing coals, and Lithuanian sprāgēti, to crackle.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small particle of fire, thrown off from burning wood or struck from iron: about 725.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative spark that starts something, or a small trace (a spark of hope), is from about 888,^[6][3] and the vital principle in human life from the late 14th century.^[3][4] Sparks fly, of heated words, is from 1732.^[6] The electrical spark, a flash between two conductors, is a later scientific sense,^[3][7] and spark plug is from 1903.^[2] The verb, to give off sparks, is from about 1200,^[2][3] and to set off or trigger is a modern figurative use.^[8][7] A spark was also a woman of great beauty or wit (1575), then a showy young man or a lover (from 1706–07, in Farquhar);^[2][3][4] Barnhart takes this as a figurative use of the fire word, while Merriam-Webster thinks it may be from Old Norse sparkr, lively.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 725 – a particle of fire.^[6]
• c. 888 – a trace, a beginning (figurative).^[6]
• c. 1200 – to spark (verb).^[2][3]
• 1575 – a witty beauty.^[2]
• 1706–07 – a beau, lover.^[2]
• 1903 – spark plug.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A tiny burning particle thrown off by a fire or made by striking hard surfaces together.
2. A flash of light from an electric discharge.
3. A small trace of a quality or feeling: a spark of hope.
4. Liveliness or wit.
5. (archaic) A fashionable young man; a suitor.

Verb

1. To give off sparks.
2. To set off or trigger: to spark a debate.

Word family

• sparker
• sparkish
• sparkless
• sparklessly
• sparklike
• sparkishly
• sparkishness
• sparkover

Related words

• sparkle
• speak

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin