different between spad vs span

English

Etymology 1

Shortening of special adviser.

Alternative forms

• SpAd, SpAD

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. (UK politics, informal) A government adviser, often in a political or media role.
   • 2009, Ben Wright, Hidden world of the political advisers, BBC:

     A successful stint as a spad can be a crucial political apprenticeship - as many of the current crop of professional politicians including the Miliband brothers, David Cameron and George Osborne can testify - so long as they stay in the dark.

   • 2012, Avoid The Thick of It-style spad appointments, ministers told, The Guardian:

     The hit BBC sitcom satirising the inner workings of Whitehall and the so-called spads contains "more than a grain of truth", the head of the cross-party public administration select committee has warned.

Etymology 2

Noun

spad (plural spads)

1. (mining) A nail one or two inches long, of iron, brass, tin, or tinner iron, with a hole through the flattened head, used to mark stations in underground surveying.

Anagrams

• APDS, ASPD, PDAs, SaPD, daps, pads

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?spat]

Noun

spad m

1. fallout

Further reading

• spad in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• spad in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

spad

1. imperative of spada

Polish

Etymology

Deverbal of spada?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spat/

Noun

spad m inan

1. (printing) bleed
2. A fallen nut or fruit.
3. (collective) fallen nuts or fruit
4. slope, gradient

Declension

Further reading

• spad in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• spad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish spadh. Cognate with Icelandic spað and Danish spad.

Noun

spad n

1. broth, decoction
2. (colloquial) a body of water

Usage notes

Colloquial sense often used in the abbreviated definite singular form spat, for example hoppa i spat ("jump in the water") or trilla i spat ("fall in the water").

Declension

References

• spad in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• spad in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann? (“span, handbreadth”). Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ?espan, ?espann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American)
  • IPA^(key): /spæn/
• • Rhymes: -æn
• (Australian English)
  • IPA^(key): /spæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n

Noun

span (plural spans)

1. The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; an eighth of a fathom.
2. (by extension) A small space or a brief portion of time.
   • 1699, George Farquhar, The Constant Couple

     Life's but a span; I'll every inch enjoy.

   • 2007. Zerzan, John. Silence.

     The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans,

3. A portion of something by length; a subsequence.
   • 2004, Robert Harris, Robert Warner, The Definitive Guide to SWT and JFace (page 759)

     For example, in OpenOffice.org or Microsoft Word, each span of text can have a style that defines key characteristics about the text: • What font it uses • Whether it's normal, bolded, italicized, […]

4. (architecture, construction) The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
5. (architecture, construction) The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
6. (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
7. (US, Canada) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
8. (mathematics) The space of all linear combinations of something.
9. (computing) The time required to execute a parallel algorithm on an infinite number of processors, i.e. the shortest distance across a directed acyclic graph representing the computation steps.

Derived terms

• attention span
• eyespan
• memory span
• spanless

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English spannen, from Old English spannan, from Proto-Germanic *spannan? (“to stretch, span”). Cognate with German spannen, Dutch spannen.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) and GenAm
  • IPA^(key): /spæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn
• AusE
  • IPA^(key): /spæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n

Verb

span (third-person singular simple present spans, present participle spanning, simple past and past participle spanned)

1. (transitive) To extend through the distance between or across.

   The suspension bridge spanned the canyon.

   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.

2. (transitive) To extend through (a time period).

   The parking lot spans three acres.

   The novel spans three centuries.

3. (transitive) To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.

   to span a space or distance; to span a cylinder
4. (mathematics) To generate an entire space by means of linear combinations.
5. (intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
6. (transitive) To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English span, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann, first and third person singular preterit indicative of Proto-Germanic *spinnan? (“to spin”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, General American) IPA^(key): /spæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn

Verb

span

1. (archaic, now nonstandard) simple past tense of spin

Anagrams

• ANPs, NPAS, NSPA, PANs, PNAS, PNAs, Pans, SNAP, naps, pans, snap

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sp?n/
• Hyphenation: span
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From older gespan.

Noun

span n (plural spannen, diminutive spannetje n)

1. A span, a team (pair or larger team of draught animals). [from 17th c.]
2. A cart or instrument with a team of draught animals. [from 18th c.]
3. A romantic pair, couple. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• driespan
• tweespan
• vierspan
• zesspan

Descendants

• Afrikaans: span

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

span

1. first-person singular present indicative of spannen
2. imperative of spannen

Anagrams

• snap

Middle English

Noun

span

1. Alternative form of spanne

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch gespannen.

Noun

span

1. tense

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

span n (plural spannen, diminutive spantsje)

1. span, team (pair of draught animals in a team)
2. pair, couple

Further reading

• “span (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011