spire

spire · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*spīrō
2. Old English · inherited fromspīr
3. Middle English · inherited fromspire
4. English todayspire

From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.

spire · verb²

1. Latin · derived fromspīrō“to breathe”
2. Old French · derived fromspirer
3. English todayspire

From Old French spirer, and its source, Latin spīrō (“to breathe”).

spire · noun³

From Middle French spire.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 10th c. The stalk or stem of a plant.
• from 14th c. A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
• from 16th c. A sharp or tapering point.
• from 16th c. A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
• from 17th c. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
• from 14th c. to sprout, to send forth the early shoots of growth; to germinate.
• from 14th c. To grow upwards rather than develop horizontally.
• 14th–16th c. To breathe.