different between froth vs sparkle

English

Etymology

From Middle English froth, frooth, froþ, likely a borrowing from Old Norse froða, from Proto-Germanic *fruþ?; Old English ?fr?oþan (“to foam, froth”) is from same Germanic root. Verb attested from late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f???/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /f???/
• Rhymes: -??, Rhymes: -???

Noun

froth (countable and uncountable, plural froths)

1. foam

2. (figuratively) unimportant events or actions; drivel

   Thousands of African children die each day: why do the newspapers continue to discuss unnecessary showbiz froth?

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

froth (third-person singular simple present froths, present participle frothing, simple past and past participle frothed)

1. (transitive) To create froth in (a liquid).
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Book Two, Chapter 7, [1]

     One lacquey carried the chocolate-pot into the sacred presence; a second, milled and frothed the chocolate with the little instrument he bore for that function; a third, presented the favoured napkin; a fourth (he of the two gold watches), poured the chocolate out.

   I like to froth my coffee for ten seconds exactly.

2. (intransitive) (of a liquid) To bubble.
   • 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” lines 21-4, [2]

     Colder and louder blew the wind,

     A gale from the Northeast,

     The snow fell hissing in the brine,

     And the billows frothed like yeast.

   • 1973, “Black Day in Brussels,” Time, 19 February, 1973, [3]

     English beer, along with European brews, is already the subject of an EEC investigation to determine whether additives like stabilizers (used to prevent frothing during shipment) should be allowed.

3. (transitive) To spit, vent, or eject, as froth.
   • 1690, John Dryden, Don Sebastian, a Tragedy, Act I, Scene 1, [4]

     The Mufti reddens; mark that holy cheek.

     He frets within, froths treason at his mouth,

     And churns it thro’ his teeth […]

   • 1859, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Merlin and Vivien” in Idylls of the King, [5]

     […] is your spleen frothed out, or have ye more?

4. (intransitive) (literally) To spew saliva as froth; (figuratively) to rage, vent one's anger.
   • 1958, Nikos Kazantzakis, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938), translated by Kimon Friar, London: Secker and Warburg, Book XIII,

     The clumsy suckling struck out with her still soft claws,

     opened her frothing mouth until her milk teeth shone.

   • 1962, “Riding Crime's Crest” in Time, 25 April, 1962, [6]

     As doctors tried in vain to save April's right eye, news stories frothed at her assailant. He was “fiendish” (the Examiner), “sadistic” (the News-Call Bulletin), “probably a sexual psychopath” (the Chronicle).

5. (transitive) To cover with froth.

   A horse froths his chain.

Translations

Derived terms

• frothy
• froth at the mouth
• froth up

References

Anagrams

• Forth, forth, forth-

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sp??k?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sp??k?l/
• Rhymes: -??(r)k?l
• Homophone: SPARQL

Etymology 1

From Middle English sparkel, sparkle, sparcle, equivalent to spark +? -le (diminutive suffix).

Noun

sparkle (countable and uncountable, plural sparkles)

1. A little spark; a scintillation.
   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     The shock was sufficiently strong to strike out some sparkles of his fiery temper.

2. Brilliance; luster.

3. Liveliness; vivacity.

4. The quality of being sparkling or fizzy; effervescence.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English sparklen, sperclen, equivalent to spark +? -le (frequentative verb). Cognate with Dutch sparkelen (“to sparkle”).

Alternative forms

• sparckle, sparcle (obsolete)

Verb

sparkle (third-person singular simple present sparkles, present participle sparkling, simple past and past participle sparkled)

1. (intransitive) To emit sparks; to throw off ignited or incandescent particles

2. (by extension) To shine as if throwing off sparks; to emit flashes of light; to scintillate; to twinkle

   • A Mantelet vp on his shulder hangynge
     Bretful of Rubies reede / as fyr sparklynge
3. (intransitive) To manifest itself by, or as if by, emitting sparks; to glisten; to flash.
4. (intransitive) To emit little bubbles, as certain kinds of liquors; to effervesce

5. (transitive) To emit in the form or likeness of sparks.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To disperse.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To scatter on or over.

Synonyms

• (glisten, flash): shine, glisten, scintillate, radiate, coruscate, glitter, twinkle

Derived terms

• asparkle
• sparkler
• sparkling water

Translations

References

• sparkle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• kerslap

Middle English

Noun

sparkle

1. Alternative form of sparkel