spasm
/sˈpæzəm/SPA-zuhm
/sˈpæzəm/SPA-zuhm
Meaninga cramp
Common meaning: a sudden muscle contraction
- spasma cramp; to pull, wrenchLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1412 · scan
Journey through time
- Aryan root · reconstructed√SPA or SPAN‘draw out, extend, increase’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 436, p. 746 · scan
- Greekσπασμός; σπάω‘a cramp’
- Latinspasmum
- Englishmeaning shiftsa cramp → a sudden muscle contractionspasm‘a sudden muscle contraction’ · today
spasm also in: spasmodic
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek σπασμός; σπάω ‘a cramp; to pull, wrench’.
Roots
- σπασμός; σπάω Greek “a cramp; to pull, wrench”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app