spa
Translingual
Symbol
spa
English
Etymology 1
The term is derived from the name of the Belgian town of Spa, where since medieval times illnesses caused by iron deficiency were treated by drinking chalybeate (iron-bearing) spring water. In 16th century England the old Roman ideas of medicinal bathing were revived at towns like Bath, and in 1571 William Slingsby who had been to the Belgian town (which he called Spaw) discovered a chalybeate spring in Yorkshire. He built an enclosed well at what became known as Harrogate, the first resort in England for drinking medicinal waters, then in 1596 Dr. Timothy Bright called the resort The English Spaw, beginning the use of the word Spa as a generic description rather than as the place name of the Belgian town. At first this term referred specifically to resorts for water drinking rather than bathing, but this distinction was gradually lost and many spas offer external remedies.
There are various stories about the origin of the name. A Belgian spring of iron-bearing water was called Espa from the Walloon term for "fountain", and was used in 1326 as a cure by an iron master with such success that he founded a health resort that developed into the town, though it has been suggested that this term may be derived from the name of the resort. Some have suggested that the town's name can be ultimately sourced from Latin spargere (“to scatter, sprinkle, or moisten”), though this derivation is problematic.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈspɑː/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈspɑ/
Audio (US) (file)
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈspɐː/
Audio (AU) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɑː
Noun
spa (plural spas)
- A health resort near a mineral spring or hot spring.
- A trendy or fashionable resort.
- A health club.
- They went to a spa for a massage.
- A hot tub.
- Their bath is fitted with a spa.
- (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine) A convenience store.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
Etymology 2
Shortened form of spastic
Pronunciation
Noun
spa (plural spas)
- (Ireland, slang) An idiot; a gobshite
- 2010, Paul Murray, Skippy Dies, →ISBN:
- What the fuck was she talking about, he must think she's such a spa.
- 2018, Rachael English, The Night of the Party[2]:
- ['...] We'll say it was just the two of us sitting in the shed having a chat.'
'Don't be such a spa. Nobody will believe we were sitting in the shed having a chat.[...']
- (Ireland, slang) A clumsy person (see spastic)
References
- ^ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)[1], volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 10.571, page 303.
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology 1
From earlier spade, from Middle Dutch spade, from Old Dutch *spado, from Proto-Germanic *spadô.
Alternative forms
Noun
spa m (plural spaden, diminutive spaatje n)
Etymology 2
From the Spa brand of mineral water, which originates from the Belgian town of Spa. The compound spawater is attested as early as the 17th century, however.
Noun
spa m (plural spa's, diminutive spaatje n)
Etymology 3
From earlier spade, from Middle Dutch spade, from Old Dutch *spādi, from Proto-Germanic *spēdiz. Cognate with German spät.
Alternative forms
Adjective
spa (comparative spader, superlative spaadst)
Inflection
Declension of spa | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | spa | |||
inflected | spade | |||
comparative | spader | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | spa | spader | het spaadst het spaadste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | spade | spadere | spaadste |
n. sing. | spa | spader | spaadste | |
plural | spade | spadere | spaadste | |
definite | spade | spadere | spaadste | |
partitive | spaads | spaders | — |
Synonyms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Alternative forms
Etymology
From the noun spade.
Pronunciation
Verb
spa (present tense spar, past tense spadde, past participle spadd or spadt, present participle spadande, imperative spa)
References
- “spa” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Piedmontese
Pronunciation
Noun
spa f (plural spe)
Polish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English spa.
Pronunciation
Noun
spa n (indeclinable)
- spa (beauty treatments designed to moisturise and nourish the skin; also: cosmetics used for such treatments)
- spa (health resort near a mineral spring or hot spring)
- Hypernyms: bad, kurort, uzdrowisko, zdrojowisko
- spa (hot tub)
Adjective
spa (not comparable, no derived adverb)
- (postpositive) spa (beauty treatments designed to moisturise and nourish the skin; also: cosmetics used for such treatments)
- (postpositive) spa (hot tub)
- Synonym: jacuzzi
Further reading
- spa I in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- spa II in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- spa in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English spa.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: spa
Noun
spa m (plural spas)
- spa (health resort near a spring)
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English spa.
Pronunciation
Noun
spa m (plural spas)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading
- “spa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- Translingual lemmas
- Translingual symbols
- ISO 639-2
- ISO 639-3
- English terms derived from Walloon
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɑː
- Rhymes:English/ɑː/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- Rhode Island English
- Massachusetts English
- Maine English
- Irish English
- English slang
- English terms with quotations
- English heteronyms
- English terms derived from toponyms
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -den
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Dutch terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *speh₁-
- Dutch adjectives
- Dutch terms with obsolete senses
- Dutch genericized trademarks
- Norwegian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk verbs
- Piedmontese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Piedmontese lemmas
- Piedmontese nouns
- Piedmontese feminine nouns
- Polish terms borrowed from English
- Polish unadapted borrowings from English
- Polish terms derived from English
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/a
- Rhymes:Polish/a/1 syllable
- Polish terms with homophones
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish indeclinable nouns
- Polish neuter nouns
- Polish adjectives
- Polish uncomparable adjectives
- pl:Bathing
- pl:Cosmetics
- pl:Health
- pl:Places
- pl:Recreation
- Portuguese terms borrowed from English
- Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese 1-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese nouns with irregular gender
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish unadapted borrowings from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/a
- Rhymes:Spanish/a/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish nouns with irregular gender
- Spanish masculine nouns