# spire

> English word · Noun · IPA /spaɪə/ · frequency rank #25,217

## Definitions
1. The stalk or stem of a plant.
2. A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
3. Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
4. A sharp or tapering point.
5. A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
6. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
7. A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.

## Etymology
From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.

## Easily confused with
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spr)
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-sure)
- **stir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-stir)
- **spit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spit)
- **spur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spur)
- **store** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-store)
- **sport** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-sport)
- **spoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spoke)
- **suite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-suite)
- **spite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spite)
- **Spurs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spurs)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-stare)
- **swipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-swipe)
- **spree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spree)
- **swore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-swore)
- **swine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-swine)
- **swirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-swirl)
- **spore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spore)
- **spurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-spurt)
- **stipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-stipe)

## Common misspellings (7)
`psire`, `sipre`, `spier`, `spirre`, `sppire`, `sprie`, `sspire`

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