spade

Meaning

1. A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
2. A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.

shovel

hoe in general

scoop shovel

backing-off

digging tool

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/speɪd/

From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (“spade”), from Proto-Germanic *spadǭ, *spadô, *spadō (“spade”). Cognate with Dutch spade, Old Frisian spada, Old Saxon spado, German Spaten, Hunsrik Spaad. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂-dʰ-, whence also Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “blade”), Hittite 𒅖𒉺𒀀𒋻 (išpatar, “spear”), Persian سپار (sopâr, “plow”), Northern Luri ئەسپار (aspār, “digging”) and Central Kurdish ئەسپەر (esper), ئەسپەرە (espere, “cross-piece on shaft of spade to take pressure of foot”). Distant doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée.