# spar

> English word · Noun · IPA /spɑː/ · frequency rank #26,972

## Definitions
1. A rafter of a roof.
2. A thick pole or piece of wood.
3. A bar of wood used to fasten a door.
4. Any linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff.
5. A beam-like structural member that supports ribs in an aircraft wing or other airfoil.

## Etymology
From Middle English sparre (“spar, rafter, beam”) (noun), sparren (“to close, bar”) (verb), from Middle Dutch sparre or Middle Low German Sparre, all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sparrô (“stake, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)par- (“beam, log”). Compare Dutch spar (“balk”), German Sparren (“rafter, spar”), Danish sparre (“spar”), Albanian shparr, shpardh (“kind of oak”). Perhaps also compare spear.

## Easily confused with
- **spy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spy)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-sta)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-str)
- **SPD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spd)
- **SPF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spf)
- **SPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-sps)
- **SSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-ssa)
- **SPL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spl)
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spr)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-stay)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-star)
- **spot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spot)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spin)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-stan)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-stir)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-stat)
- **swap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-swap)
- **spit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-spit)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-swan)
- **stab** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spar-vs-stab)

## Common misspellings (6)
`psar`, `sapr`, `sparr`, `sppar`, `spra`, `sspar`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spar