different between spay vs spy

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English spayen, spaien, from the Anglo-Norman espeier, equivalent to the Old French espeer (“to cut with a sword”), from espee (“sword”), whence the Modern French épée.

Alternative forms

• spaie [16th C.]
• spave (archaic)
• spaye [16th–17th CC.]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sp?, IPA^(key): /spe?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Verb

spay (third-person singular simple present spays, present participle spaying, simple past spayed, past participle spayed or (obsolete) spade)

1. (transitive) To remove or destroy the ovaries and/or uterus (of an animal) so that it cannot become pregnant.

Synonyms

• castrate, emasculate (for a male)
• geld (used almost always of animals, especially male horses)
• neuter (used only of animals, especially pets)
• sterilize (used for all species and for both genders)

Translations

References

• “spay, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Etymology 2

See spayard.

Noun

spay (plural spays)

1. Rare spelling of spayard.

References

• “spay” listed as a variant spelling of “spaya(?)d, spayd”, listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Etymology 3

Verb

spay (third-person singular simple present spays, present participle spaying, simple past and past participle spayed)

1. Alternative form of spae (to foretell or divine)

Anagrams

• APYs, AsPy, Pays, aspy, pays, pyas, yaps

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch speye; compare Middle Dutch spoye.

Alternative forms

• spey, speye

Noun

spay (plural spayes)

1. sluice

References

• “†spay, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Etymology 2

See spayen.

Verb

spay (third-person singular simple present spayeth, present participle spayinge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle spaied)

1. alternative infinitive of spayen.

References

• “spay, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]

Scots

Etymology

From Northern Middle English sp?, from Old Norse spá (“to foretell, prophesy”), from Proto-Germanic *spah?n?, *speh?n? (“to observe”), from Proto-Indo-European *spe?- (“to look”). Cognate with Old High German speh?n (“to peer, spy”) (whence German spähen), Middle Dutch spien, spieden (“to spy”) (whence Dutch spieden). More at spy.

Noun

spay (plural spays)

1. A prophecy; omen

Verb

spay (third-person singular present spays, present participle spayin, past spayed, past participle spayed)

1. Alternative form of spae

English

Etymology

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *speh?n (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *speh?n? (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *spe?- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”).

The noun displaced native Old English s??awere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English s??awian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spa?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Noun

spy (plural spies)

1. A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).

Synonyms

• intelligencer
• Thesaurus:spy

Translations

Derived terms

• spyess (a female spy)
• spy ring

Verb

spy (third-person singular simple present spies, present participle spying, simple past and past participle spied)

1. (intransitive) To act as a spy.

2. (transitive) To spot; to catch sight of.
   • 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman

     One in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration.
3. (intransitive) To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
4. (transitive) To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.

Translations

Derived terms

• spy on
• spyhop

Related terms

• spyglass
• spyware

See also

• Wikipedia article on spies

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (supai)
• ? Korean: ??? (seupai)

Anagrams

• PYs, SYP, YPs, pys

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse spýja, from Proto-Germanic *sp?wan?, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pty?w- (“to spit, vomit”). Compare Swedish and Danish spy, Icelandic spýja, English spew, Dutch spuwen, German speien.

Noun

spy n (definite singular spyet) (uncountable)

1. barf (US), vomit, spew

Verb

spy (present tense spyr, simple past spydde, past participle spydd)

1. to barf (US), throw up, vomit, spew (also figurative)

Synonyms

• kaste opp

References

• “spy” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse spýja. The noun is derived from the verb.

Verb

spy (present tense spyr, past tense spydde, past participle spydd/spytt, passive infinitive spyast, present participle spyande, imperative spy)

1. (transitive, intransitive) to vomit
2. (intransitive, about blowflies) to lay eggs

Derived terms

Noun

spy n (definite singular spyet, uncountable)

1. vomit, sick
2. (collective) eggs of a blowfly

References

• “spy” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• syp

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse spýja, from Proto-Germanic *sp?wan?, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pty?w- (“to spit, vomit”). Compare Norwegian and Danish spy, Icelandic spýja, English spew, Dutch spuwen, German speien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spy?/

Verb

spy (present spyr, preterite spydde, supine spytt, imperative spy)

1. to throw up, to vomit

Conjugation

Quotations

Synonyms

• kräkas

Related terms

• spya
• spyboll

Anagrams

• pys