spire

¹

[spahy^uhr]

noun

1. a tall, acutely pointed pyramidal roof or rooflike construction upon a tower, roof, etc.

2. a similar construction forming the upper part of a steeple.

3. a tapering, pointed part of something; a tall, sharp-pointed summit, peak, or the like.

   the distant spires of the mountains.

4. the highest point or summit of something.

   the spire of a hill;

   the spire of one's profession.

5. a sprout or shoot of a plant, as an acrospire of grain or a blade or spear of grass.

verb (used without object)

spired, spiring 

1. to shoot or rise into spirelike form; rise or extend to a height in the manner of a spire.

spire

²

[spahy^uhr]

noun

1. a coil or spiral.

2. one of the series of convolutions of a coil or spiral.

3. Zoology.,  the upper, convoluted part of a spiral shell, above the aperture.

spire

¹

/ spaɪə /

noun

1. Also called: steeple. a tall structure that tapers upwards to a point, esp one on a tower or roof or one that forms the upper part of a steeple

2. a slender tapering shoot or stem, such as a blade of grass

3. the apical part of any tapering formation; summit

verb

1. (intr) to assume the shape of a spire; point up

2. (tr) to furnish with a spire or spires

spire

²

/ spaɪə, spaɪəˈrɪfərəs /

noun

1. any of the coils or turns in a spiral structure

2. the apical part of a spiral shell

Other Word Forms

• spireless adjective
• unspiring adjective
• spiry adjective
• spiriferous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of spire¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English spir(e), Old English spīr “spike (of grain), blade (of grass)”; cognate with Middle Dutch spier, Middle Low German spīr “shoot, sprout, sprig,” Old Norse spīra “stalk”

Origin of spire²

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin spīra, from Greek speîra; spiral

Word History and Origins

Origin of spire¹

Old English spīr blade; related to Old Norse spīra stalk, Middle Low German spīr shoot, Latin spīna thorn

Origin of spire²

C16: from Latin spīra a coil, from Greek speira

Example Sentences

It was during his time among the dreaming spires that he founded the Oxford Movement, which argued for the reinstatement of some older Christian traditions into the Victorian Church of England.

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Forget charming, mini facades, as Galaxy’s Edge is larger than life, its spires towering over and around guests.

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“The central granitic batholith defines the White Alps, a land of spires and glacially carved valleys with hanging lakes as a result. The eastern-most section is called the Red Alps because serpentine soils are common.”

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Our ceremonies, meanwhile, were held in ornate buildings featuring marble and spires and headed up by men in robes, not a youth pastor with frosted tips and cargo shorts.

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There are large mounds of California buckwheat, tall spires of sweet hummingbird sage and incandescently purple clusters of showy penstemon.

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Related Words

• steeple