sperhauk, sparrowhawk. Morte Arthur, leaf 301. 34; bk. xii, c. 7. Cp. OE. spearhafoc (Voc. 132. 26); spearwa, sparrow + hafoc, hawk.
sperre, to shut, fasten, Spenser, Shep. Kal., May, 224; Tr. and Cr., Prol. 19 (Theobald’s emendation); ‘I sperre, Je ferme. This verbe is of the northyrne langaige and nat commynly in use’, Palsgrave. Spear, ‘to bar or fasten a door’, is a Northumbrian word, see EDD. (s.v. Speer, vb. 6. 2); ‘To sper, to shut, to fasten a door with a bar of wood’ (Jamieson). ME. sperre, ‘claudere’ (Cath. Angl.); sperred, barred (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. v. 521). Cp. G. sperren, to shut (in or out).
sperse, to scatter, ‘disperse’. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 39; v. 3. 37.
spertle, to sprinkle with fluid, Drayton, Pol. ii. 283. In prov. use in the Midland counties, see EDD. (s.v. Spirtle).
spheres. Peacham, Compl. Gentleman, c. 7, gives the old eleven spheres: ‘The eleventh heaven is the habitation of God and his angels. The tenth, the first moover [primum mobile]. The ninth, the Christalline heaven. The eighth, the starry firmament. Then the seven planets in their order’ [viz. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon]. In the Ptolemaic astronomy, the sun went round the earth, which was the immovable centre of the universe.
spial, a spy. Bacon, Essay 44. In some edd. for espial in 1 Hen. VI, i. 4. 8; spials, spies, Marl. 1 Tamburlaine, ii. 2. 35. See [espial].
spice, a species, kind, sort. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 1, §§ 1, 3; ‘Spyce, a kynde, espece’, Palsgrave. ME. spice, species, kind: ‘Absteyne you fro yvel spice’ (Wyclif, 1 Thess. v. 22); ‘The spices (v.r. speces) of envye ben these’ (Chaucer, C. T. I. 490). OF. espice, a species, L. species, a kind, sort (Vulgate, 1 Thess. v. 22).
spiced, scrupulous, over-nice, too particular; ‘Out of a scruple he took . . . in spiced conscience’, B. Jonson, Barthol. Fair, i. 1 (Quarlous); Sejanus, v. 4 (Sej.); Fletcher, Mad Lover, iii. 1 (Cleanthe). See note on Chaucer, C. T. A. 526. See [spice].
spick, lard. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 335. In Scotland the fat of animals, the blubber of whales (EDD.). ME. spyke or fette flesch, ‘popa’ (Prompt. EETS. 428). Icel. spik, the fat of seals or whales, cp. OE. spic, fat bacon; G. speck, bacon, lard.
spilt, (perhaps) inlaid with thin slips. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 10. 5. See EDD. (s.v. Spill, sb.2 1).