spaniel

[ span-yuh l ]

/ ˈspæn yəl /

noun

one of any of several breeds of small or medium-sized dogs, usually having a long, silky coat and long, drooping ears.

a submissive, fawning, or cringing person.

Nearby words

spangled, spangled glass, spanglish, spangly, spaniard, spaniel, spanish, spanish america, spanish american, spanish arabic, spanish armada

Origin of spaniel

1350–1400; Middle English spaynel < Old French espaignol Spanish (dog), derivative of Espaigne Spain

Related formsspan·iel·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spaniel

Something pulled at his flannel trousers: it was a spaniel puppy, and with it he played till breakfast-time.
A Boswell of Baghdad|E. V. Lucas
A spaniel at the point of death requested a mastiff friend to eat him.
Cobwebs From an Empty Skull|Ambrose Bierce (AKA: Dod Grile)
Number Twelve explained in a weary tone that Fluffles was a Pekinese spaniel.
Adventures of Bindle|Herbert George Jenkins
To this class belong most of the useful dogs, such as the spaniel, the setter, the pointer and the sheepdog.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6|Various

She was indeed like a spaniel dog who sees her master coming.
Fraternity|John Galsworthy

British Dictionary definitions for spaniel

spaniel

/ (ˈspænjəl) /

noun

any of several breeds of gundog with long drooping ears, a silky coat, and formerly a docked tailSee clumber spaniel, cocker spaniel, field spaniel, springer spaniel, Sussex spaniel, water spaniel

either of two toy breeds of spanielSee King Charles spaniel

an obsequiously devoted person

Word Origin for spaniel

C14: from Old French espaigneul Spanish (dog), from Old Provençal espanhol, ultimately from Latin Hispāniolus Spanish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for spaniel

spaniel

13c., as a surname meaning "Spaniard;" as a name for a breed of dog of Spanish origin, late 14c., from Old French espagneul, literally "Spanish (dog)," from Vulgar Latin *Hispaniolus "of Spain," diminutive of Latin Hispanus "Spanish, Hispanic" (see Spaniard).