spate

Meaning

Noun

1. (Scotland, countable) A (sudden) flood or inundation of water; specifically, a flood in or overflow of a river or other watercourse due to heavy rain or melting snow; (uncountable, archaic) flooding, inundation.
2. (Scotland, countable) A sudden heavy downpour of rain.
3. (Scotland, countable, figuratively) A sudden increase or rush of something; a flood, an outburst, an outpouring.

Verb

1. (Scotland, archaic, transitive) To (suddenly) flood or inundate (a river or other watercourse) with water.
2. (Scotland, archaic, intransitive) To (suddenly) rain heavily; to pour.

Synonyms

flood

torrent

rush

freshet

surge

inundation

quite a little

batch

deal

mass

mess

mickle

mint

mountain

⛰️

muckle

outpouring

passel

peck

pile

plenty

pot

raft

shower

🚿

sight

slew

stack

tidy sum

upsurge

wad

downpour

flock

good deal

great deal

hatful

heap

lot

downfall

rash

onslaught

deluge

flooding

cloudburst

outburst

blizzard

gush

overflow

series

heavy shower

burst

invasion

Translations

chaparrón

Flut

crue

inondazione

avalancha

ondata

👋

πλημμύρα

averse

🚿

toevloed

الكثِيْر

pilot

🧑‍✈️

pila

quantitat

tou

كثْرة

Pronounced as (IPA)

/speɪt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: spate

Cognate with Scots: spate

Cognate with English: spatter

Cognate with Dutch: spatten

Cognate with English: spit

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English spate, spait (“a flood”), influenced by Scots spate (“torrent of water, flood; heavy downpour of rain; (figurative) bout of drinking; large crowd of people; flood of events, words, etc.”). The further etymology of the Middle English and Scots words is uncertain; they are possibly related to English spatter and Dutch spatten (“to spatter, splash”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sp(y)ēw-, *spyū- (whence English spit (“to evacuate (saliva or another substance) from the mouth, etc.”)), which is imitative of spitting.
The verb is derived from the noun, probably influenced by Scots spate (“to flood, swell; to rain heavily; (figurative) to scold fiercely”).