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spean Meaning & Definition

/spiːn/

What Does Spean Mean?

As a noun, spean means A teat or nipple of a cow. As a verb, it means Archaic form of spane.

Spean at a Glance

Part of speechnoun, verb
Pronunciation/spiːn/
Pluralspeans
Verb formsspeans, speaning, speaned

Spean Definition (Noun)

  1. A teat or nipple of a cow.

Spean as a Verb

  1. Archaic form of spane.

Synonyms of Spean

The source does not list synonyms for this entry.

Spean synonyms and antonyms →

Word Forms & Grammar

spean (plural speans)

spean (third-person singular simple present speans, present participle speaning, simple past and past participle speaned)

Origin of Spean

Origin 1: From Middle English *spene, *spane, from Old English spane, spanu (“teat”), from Proto-West Germanic *spanu, *spenu, from Proto-Germanic *spenô (“nipple”), from Proto-Indo-European *pstḗn (“breast; teat”). Cognate with West Frisian spien (“nipple”), Dutch speen (“nipple”), Danish spene (“teat”), Swedish spene (“teat, nipple, dug”), Icelandic speni (“teat”).

Origin 2: Alternatively a borrowing from Dutch speen (“nipple, teat”), from the same Proto-Germanic origin as above.

Origin 3: From Middle English spanen (“to wean”); see spane.

Quick Answers About Spean

Is spean a noun or a verb?

Spean is mainly used as a noun, but it can also be used as a verb.

What is the plural of spean?

The plural of spean is speans.

What is the past tense of spean?

The past tense of spean is speaned. The present participle is speaning.

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