different between spy vs detective
spy
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)
- 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)
- (intransitive) To act as a spy.
- (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.
- 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman
- (intransitive) To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
- (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)
- barf (US), vomit, spew
Verb
spy (present tense spyr, simple past spydde, past participle spydd)
- 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)
- (transitive, intransitive) to vomit
- (intransitive, about blowflies) to lay eggs
Derived terms
Noun
spy n (definite singular spyet, uncountable)
- vomit, sick
- (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)
- to throw up, to vomit
Conjugation
Quotations
Synonyms
- kräkas
Related terms
- spya
- spyboll
Anagrams
- pys
spy From the web:
- what spy ninja are you
- what spyro game is cynder in
- what spy stock
- what spy plane was shot down
- what spy means
- what spyware
- what spy ninja are you quiz
- what spyro games are on ps4
detective
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d??t?kt?v/
- Rhymes: -?kt?v
Noun
detective (plural detectives)
- (law enforcement) A police officer who looks for evidence as part of solving a crime; an investigator.
- A person employed to find information not otherwise available to the public.
Synonyms
- (law enforcement): DT (abbreviation), Det (abbreviation)
- (person employed to find information): private detective, private investigator
- (person employed to find information): (slang) dick, private dick
- sleuth
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
Adjective
detective (not comparable)
- Employed in detecting.
Asturian
Noun
detective m or f (plural detectives)
- detective
Galician
Noun
detective m (plural detectives)
- detective
Further reading
- “detective” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.
Portuguese
Noun
detective m (plural detectives)
- Alternative form of detetive
Spanish
Etymology
From English detective.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dete??tibe/, [d?e.t?e???t?i.??e]
Noun
detective m or f (plural detectives)
- detective
Usage notes
- detective may be masculine or feminine, but the less common detectiva exists for female detectives as well.
Derived terms
- detective privado
- detectivesco
Further reading
- “detective” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
detective From the web:
- what detectives do
- what detective mean
- what detective was sharon newman married to
- what detective show was buddy ebsen in
- what detective shows are on netflix
- what detective dies on svu
- what detective series are on netflix
- what detective was sharon married to
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