spak
See also: Spak, Späk, and spåk
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English spræc, spæc (“spoke (past tense of speak)”).
Verb
spak
- first/third-person singular past indicative of speken
- (later) second-person singular past indicative of speken
Etymology 2
From Old English spāca (“spoke (support surrounding the centre of a wheel)”).
Noun
spak
- Alternative form of spoke
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
spak m (definite singular spaken, indefinite plural spaker, definite plural spakene)
- a lever
Derived terms
- girspak
References
- “spak” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
spak m (definite singular spaken, indefinite plural spakar, definite plural spakane)
- a lever
Derived terms
- girspak
References
- “spak” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Scots
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [spak]
Verb
spak
- simple past tense of speak
- 1806, Walter Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish border (3rd ed) (1 of 3):
- Then spak the lord, hight Hamilton, And to the nobil king said he, "My sovereign prince, sum counsell take, First at your nobilis, syne at me.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1905, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Balfour, Second Part:
- But whan he spak, it was mair in sorrow than in anger.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1898, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, Scottish sketches:
- And I'll do this messenger justice; he laid down no law to me, he only spak o' the duty laid on his own conscience; but my conscience said 'Amen' to his--that's about it.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1896, Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, Adventures in Criticism:
- Ful wel she song the service divyne, Entuned in hir nose ful semely; And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly, After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frensh of Paris was to hir unknowe..."
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1919, Frederic Moorman, More Tales of the Ridings:
- Them was t' truest words he iver spak, an' shoo would hae been muck-cheap if I'd gien a million pund for her."
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1857, Various, The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume IV.:
- I went unto her mother, and I argued and I fleech'd, I spak o' love and honesty, and mair and mair beseech'd; But she was deaf to a' my grief, she wadna look on me; O poverty!
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1904, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Merry Men:
- Het as he was, he took a kind o' cauld grue in the marrow o' his banes; but up he spak for a' that; an' says he: 'My friend, are you a stranger in this place?'
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
Swedish
Etymology 1
From Old Norse spakr (“wise, mild”).
Adjective
spak (comparative spakare, superlative spakast)
- powerless, tired, obedient, tame, calm, easy, reasonable; of a person or animal that used to resist, but has given up the fight; of calm water
- spak som ett lamm
- tame as a lamb
- spak som ett lamm
Declension
| Inflection of spak | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | spak | spakare | spakast |
| Neuter singular | spakt | spakare | spakast |
| Plural | spaka | spakare | spakast |
| Masculine plural3 | spake | spakare | spakast |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | spake | spakare | spakaste |
| All | spaka | spakare | spakaste |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
Synonyms
- foglig
- kuvad
- medgörlig
Related terms
- spakhet
- spakna
- spakvatten
Etymology 2
From Old Swedish spaker (“rod, stick, lever”), from Middle Low German spake, cognate with Danish spag (“spoke”), Dutch spaak (“spoke”), and English spoke.
Noun
spak c
- a lever used to control some machine; a lever, a rod, a handle, a stick, a joystick, a control
- Han drog i spaken
- He pulled the lever
- Nazisterna sitter vid spakarna
- The Nazis are in control
Declension
| Declension of spak | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | spak | spaken | spakar | spakarna |
| Genitive | spaks | spakens | spakars | spakarnas |
Synonyms
- grepp
- handtag
- reglage
- stång
Related terms
- spaka
- spakblock
- spakmanövrerad
- styrspak
- växelspak
References
- spak in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- spak in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
- spak in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
Anagrams
- -skap
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From English spark.
Noun
spak
- spark
Adjective
spak
- drunk