Old English spir "a sprout, shoot, spike, blade, tapering stalk of grass," from Proto-Germanic *spiraz (cognates: Old Norse spira "a stalk, slender tree," Dutch spier "shoot, blade of grass," Middle Low German spir "a small point or top"), from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). Meaning "tapering top of a tower or steeple" first recorded 1590s (a sense attested in Middle Low German since late 14c. and also found in the Scandinavian cognates).
spire (v.)
early 14c., "send up shoots," from spire (n.). Related: Spired; spiring.
中文解释
1. 注意区分：squire <=> spire.2. PIE base *spei- "sharp point" => spire.3. 同源词：spine, spike, spoke (n.), spit (n.2).4. It is used for the 'tip of a spiral shell'.
实用例句
1. The spire of the tower dominates the foreground.
塔尖在前景中占了主要地位.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. The church spire was struck by lightning.
教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. The tower culminates in a 40 - foot spire.
这塔的顶端是一个40英尺高的塔尖.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4. No one would dream of straightening out the knobbly spire at Empingham Church.
谁都无法将埃姆平汉教堂疙瘩嶙峋的尖顶弄直。
来自柯林斯例句
5. When they came to build the southern spire the foundations began to sink.