spoon – English noun declension

English noun forms of spoon

Noun: spoon
Singularspoon
Pluralspoons

Sample Sentences

  • He must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil. [c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:]
  • While Ms. Fly was with Sharon in the kitchen, Sharon asked the defendant for a “spoon of drugs.” Defendant refused and stated that he did not know where drugs could be obtained. [1978, Illinois. Supreme Court, Reports of Cases at Law and in Chancery..., page 76:]
  • To this class college rowing offers no attractions or place, nor are they generally looked upon by the artists of the "spoons" as a desirable addition […] [1877, The Country, volumes 1-2, page 339:]
  • To get all the advantages of being with men of this sort, you must know how to draw your inferences and not be a spoon who takes things literally. [1872, George Eliot, “Chapter 23”, in Middlemarch:]
  • We therefore have to meticulously plan out each day with the small amount of spoons we have. Each task will cost us at least one spoon. [2014 March 12, “The Spoon Theory – Rationing my Legs & Energy”, in Spoonie Sophia, WordPress:]
  • You work, and play, and clean, and love, and hate, and that's lots of damn spoons . . . but if you are young and healthy you still have spoons left over as you fall asleep and wait for the new supply of spoons to be delivered in the morning. [2015, Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, page 241:]
  • Once you're out of spoons for the day, that's it, no more energy. So when you get down to your last couple of spoons for the day, you have to decide, what's the priority? [2016, Tymber Dalton, Two Against Nature, page 86:]
  • But if you're running low on spoons, take some time out to recharge. [2018, Donna Alward, Nancy Cassidy, Adulting 101: Writing Through Life and Other Adventures:]
  • He has frequent dizzy spells. His friend has Asperger syndrome. Both relate and support each other when they have run out of spoons. [2018, Dennis J. DeWitt, Zoe Died. What Now?: Finding Hope in Times of Loss:]

Etymology

1. From Middle English spoon, spoune, spone, spon (“spoon, chip of wood”), from Old English spōn (“sliver, chip of wood, shaving”), from Proto-West Germanic *spānu, from Proto-Germanic *spēnuz (“chip, flake, shaving”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peH- (“chip, shaving, log, length of wood”).
2. Cognate with Scots spun, spon (“spoon, shingle”), West Frisian spoen (“chip”), Dutch spaan (“chip, flinders”), German Span (“chip, flake, shaving”), Swedish spån (“chip, flake”), Norwegian Nynorsk spon (“chip, spoon”), Faroese spónur (“wood chip; spoon”), Ancient Greek σφήν (sphḗn, “wedge”)(though the connection to the Greek is likely impossible by modern reconstructions of PIE). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cuculer, coclear (“spoon”), from Old English cuculer, cuceler, cucler, borrowed from Latin cochlear (“spoon”).
3. The "metaphoric unit of personal energy" sense was coined by writer and disability advocate Christine Miserandino in 2003 (see spoon theory). See: Dutch Nouns 'spaan', German Nouns 'Span', Swedish Nouns 'spån', Norwegian Nynorsk Nouns 'spon', Faroese Nouns 'spónur', Ancient Greek Nouns 'σφήν'.

Verbs referencing "spoon"

Norwegian Nynorsk Nouns spon, Zulu Nouns isipunu.