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Spire vs Inspire - What's the difference?

spire | inspire |

As verbs the difference between spire and inspire

is that spire is of a seed, plant etc: to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate or spire can be (obsolete) to breathe while inspire is .

As a noun spire

is or spire can be one of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile; a coil.

spire

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) . Cognate with Dutch spier, German Spier, (Spiere), Danish spir, Norwegian spir, Swedish spira.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
  • * 1913 ,
  • Clara had pulled a button from a hollyhock spire , and was breaking it to get the seeds.
  • A sharp or tapering point.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1907, author=
  • , title=The Dust of Conflict , chapter=1 citation , passage=A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.}}
  • A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
  • The spire of the church rose high above the town.
  • The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
  • * Shakespeare
  • the spire and top of praises
  • (mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.
  • Verb

    (spir)
  • Of a seed, plant etc.: to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.5:
  • In gentle Ladies breste and bounteous race / Of woman kind it fayrest Flowre doth spyre , / And beareth fruit of honour and all chast desyre.
  • * Mortimer
  • It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.
  • To grow upwards rather than develop horizontally.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) spirer, and its source, (etyl) .

    Verb

    (spir)
  • (obsolete) To breathe.
  • (Shenstone)

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) spire.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One of the sinuous foldings of a serpent or other reptile; a coil.
  • A spiral.
  • (Dryden)
  • (geometry) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole.
  • Anagrams

    * ----

    inspire

    English

    Verb

    (inspir)
  • To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by inspiration.
  • * Bible, Wisdom xv. 11
  • He knew not his Maker, and him that inspired into him an active soul.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Dawning day new comfort hath inspired .
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=Anna Lena Phillips , title=Sneaky Silk Moths , volume=100, issue=2, page=172 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.}}
  • To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens or exalts; to communicate inspiration to.
  • Elders should inspire children with sentiments of virtue.
  • * Dryden
  • Erato, thy poet's mind inspire , / And fill his soul with thy celestial fire.
  • To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.
  • * Harvey
  • forced to inspire and expire the air with difficulty
  • To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.
  • (archaic) To breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Descend, ye Nine, descend and sing, / The breathing instruments inspire .
  • To spread rumour indirectly.
  • Synonyms

    * (l)

    Antonyms

    * (inhale) expire

    Derived terms

    * inspirer

    Anagrams

    * ----