spire 
In gentle Ladies lireste and bounteous race 
Of woman kind it fayrest Klmvre dothspyre. 
r, V. (}., III. v. M. 
2. To furnish with a spire or spires. 
Like rampired walls the Iiouses lean, 
kllspircd and domed and tnrreted, 
sheer to the valley s darkling green. 
II'. K. llffili'ii, From a Window in Princes Street. 
spire 2 (spir), >i- [< P. spire = Sp. Pg. '</'<>" = 
It. spinr, < L. npira, < Gr. amipa, a coil, twist, 
wreath, spire, also a tore or anchor-ring. Cf. Gr. 
amt/ii', a woven basket, ii.sporta, a woven bas- 
ket, Lith. spartas, a baud. Hence spiral, etc.] 
1. A winding line like the thread of a screw; 
anything wreathed or contorted; a coil ; a curl ; 
a twist; a wreath; a spiral. 
His head . . . 
With burnish'd neck of verdant gold erect 
Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass 
Floated redundant. Milton, P. L., ix. 602. 
2. In conett., all the whorls of a spiral univalve 
above the aperture or the body-whorl, taken 
together as forming a turret, in 
most cases the spire is exserted from the 
last turn of the shell, giving the ordinary 
turreted conical or helicoid form of num- 
berless gastropods : and in some long slen- 
der forms, of many turns and with small 
aperture, the spire makes most of the length 
of the shell, as figured at Cerithium, Cylin- 
drella, and Terebra, for example. In other 
cases, however, the spire scarcely protrudes 
from the body-whorl, and it may be even 
entirely included or contained in the latter, 
so that a depression or other formation oc- 
cupies the usual position of the apex of the 
shell. (Compare cuts under cowry, Cyprsa, 
Cymbtum, and Oimdmt.) See also cut under 
univalve. 
3. In math., a point at which different leaves 
of a Riemann's surface are connected. Also 
called a spiral point. 
spire s t (spir), i: i. [= OF. spirer, espirer, e.t- 
perer= Sp. Pg. espirar = It. spirare,< L. spirare, 
breathe. Hence ult. spirit, etc. , and aspire, con- 
spire, expire, inspire, perspire, respire, transpire.] 
To breathe. 
But see, a happy Korean blast did spire 
From faire Pelorus parts, which brought us right. 
Vicars, tr. of Virgil (1632). (Nares.) 
spire 4 t, c. A Middle English form of specr 1 . 
spire 5 (spir), . [Cf. sp/rei.] The male of the 
red deer, Cen-us elaplms, in its third year. 
A spire [has] brow [antler] and uprights. 
W. W. Greener, The Gun, p. 510. 
spire-bearer (spir'bar"er), . In conch., a spiri- 
fer. 
spired 1 (spird), a. [< spire* + -erf2.] Having 
a spire. 
And Baal's spired Stone to Dust was ground. 
Cowley, Davideis, li. 
spired 2 (spird), a. [< spirct + -co"*.} In conch., 
having a spire, as a univalve shell ; 
turreted. 
spiriferous ; 
A window or opening 
spire-light (spIrTIt), . 
of any kind for light in a spire. 
spire-steeple (spir'ste-'pl), n. A spire consid- 
ered as part of a steeple ; a spire. [Rare.] 
spiric (spi'rik), a. and n. [< Gr. amipiKAf, spiric, 
< axeipa, a tore, < aite'iptiv, sweep round.] I. a. 
Pertaining to or in the form of a tore or anchor- 
ring. Spiric body, a tore. Spiric line. See Km'*. 
II. H. A curve, the plane section of a tore. 
Such curves, which are bicircular quartics, were treated 
by the ancient geometers Eudoxus and Perseus. 
spiricle (spir'i-kl), . [< NL. "spirieitla, dim. 
of L. spira, a spire : see sjtire' 2 .] In bot., one of 
the delicate coiled threads in the hairs on the 
surface of certain seeds and achenes, which un- 
coil when wet. They probably serve in fixing 
small and light seeds to the soil, in order that 
they may germinate. 
Spirifer (spir'i-fer), n. [NL. (Sowerby, 1816), 
< L. spira, a coil, spire, + j'erre = E. bear*.'] 1 . 
The typical genus of Spiriferidx, having the 
long bracliial appendages coiled into a pair of 
a, vcntial view ; b, dorsal view ; c , late: 
5840 
Spiriferidae (spir-i-fer'i-de), . pi. [NL., < 
Spirifer + -iilfr.] A family of arthropomatous 
brachiopods with highly developed spiral ap- 
pendages, typified by the genus Spirifer, con- 
taining numerous genera, ranging from the 
Lower Silurian to the Liassie. 
spiriferine (spi-rif'e-rin ),a. [< Spirifer + -ine* . ] 
Bearing bracliial appendages in the form of a 
spiral; of or pertaining to the Spiriferidse. 
spiriferoid (spl-rif'e-roid), . and a. [< (fpiri- 
j'er + -<>it1.~\ I. 11. A brachiopod of the family 
Spiriferidie. 
II. a. Kesembling a spirifer; having char- 
acters of the Spirifci-iil,T. 
spiriferous (spi-rif'e-rus), a. [< NL. "gpirift-r, < 
L. spira, a coil, spire, + ferre = E. bear*.'} 1. 
Having a spire, as a univalved shell ; spired ; 
turreted. 2. Having spiral appendages, as 
a brachiopod; spiriferine. 3. Containing or 
yielding fossil spirifcrs, as a geological stra- 
tum. Eneijc. Erit., XXIV. 507. 
spirignath (spir'ig-nath), . [< NL. gpiriijua- 
tlm (Latreille, 1796), < "spirignatlius: see spi- 
rii/nathous.] The slender spirally coiled antlia 
or haustellum of lepidopterous insects. Also 
spirals, called the carnage-spring apparatus, 
supported upon similarly convoluted shelly la- 
mellee, and the shell impunctate, with a long 
straight hinge-line. Numerous species range from 
the lower Silurian to the Permian. S. hysterica Is an ex- 
ample. Also called Spin/era, Spiriferw. 
2. \l. c.] A member of this genus. 
spirignathous (spi-rig'na-thus), a. [< NL. 
'spirigiiatiius, < Gr. vireipa, a coil, + yvatiAc, a 
jaw.] Having a filiform sucking-tube coiled in 
a spiral, as a moth or butterfly ; haustellate or 
antliate, as a lepidopterous insect. 
spirillar (spir'i-liiv), . [< SpiriU-um + -c 3 .] 
In hot., belonging to or resembling the genus 
Spirillum. 
Spirillum (spl-ril'um), H. [NL. (Ehrenberg, 
183Q), dim. of L. spira, a coil, spire : see spire 2 .] 
A genus or form-genus of Schizomycetes or bac- 
teria, having cylindrical or somewhat com- 
pressed spirally'twisted cells. They are rigid and 
furnished at each end with a cilium, and multiply by 
transverse division, the parts soon separating from one 
another. This genus, which according to some authorities 
also embraces the genus known as Vibrio, contains many 
species, found in swamp-water, salt water, infusions, etc. 
See Schteomycetes. Spirillum fever. Seefeverl. 
spirit (spir'it), . [< ME. spirit, spirite, spyryte, 
spyrite (also sprit, sprite, >E. sprite*), < OF. espi- 
rit, esperit, esprit, F. esprit = Sp. espiritu = Pg. 
espirito = It. spirito, spirit (= G. Sw. Dan. spiri- 
tits, spirits of wine, etc.), < L. spiritus, a breath- 
ing or blowingfas of the wind), a breeze, the air, a 
breath, exhalation, the breath of life, life, mind, 
soul, spirit, also courage, haughtiness, etc., LL. 
a spirit, ghost, < spirare, breathe: see spire 3 . 
Cf. sprite*, a doublet of spirit.'} 1. According 
to old and primitive modes of thought, an in- 
visible corporeal thing of an airy nature, 
scarcely material, the principle of life, medi- 
ating between soul and body. The primitive and 
natural notion of life was that it consisted of the breath, 
and in most languages words etymologically signifying 
' breath ' are used to mean the principle of life. Spirit Is 
one of these, and translates the Greek iti'tO^o. The or- 
dinary notion of the Greek philosophers was that the soul 
is warm air. This was strengthened by the discovery, 
about the time of Aristotle (who, however, does not share 
the opinion), of the distinction between the veins and the 
arteries. It is found elaborately developed in the writings 
of the Stoics, and especially of Galen. The spirit in the body 
exists in various degrees of fineness. The coarser kinds 
confer only vegetative life, and betray themselves in eruc- 
tations, etc. ; there are, besides, a vital spirit (iri/eu/iu f<uo- 
n<c6r) and an animal or psychical spirit (irnuna ^i>xtrir). 
At birth man was said to possess only vegetative spirit, 
but as soon as he draws breath this was thought to be car- 
ried through the left ventricle and the arteries to every 
part of the body, becoming triturated, and conveying ani- 
mal life to the whole. The spirits were also said to be 
in different states of tension or tone, causing greater or 
less energy of body and mind. The vital spirits, being 
carried to the ventricles of the brain, were there further 
refined, and converted into spirits of sense, or animal 
spirits. In vision these spirits dart out from the eye to 
the object, though this be the most distant star, and im- 
mediately return laden in some form with information. 
This doctrine, modified by the addition of an incorporeal 
soul, and confused with the Hebrew conception of a spirit, 
was generally believed down to and into the scientific era. 
Old writers, therefore, who use phrases which are still 
employed metaphorically must be understood as mean- 
ing them literally. See def. 3. 
There is no malice in this burning coal ; 
The breath of heaven hath blown his spirit out. 
Shalt., K. John, iv. 1. 110. 
From the kind heat which in the heart doth raigne 
The spirits of life doe their beginning take ; 
These spirits of life, ascending to the braine, 
When they come there the spirits of sense do make 
These spirits of sense in fantasie's high court 
Judge of the formes of objects ill or well ; 
And so they send a good or ill report 
Downe to the heart, where all affections dwell. 
Besides, another motive power doth rise 
Out of the heart, from whose pure blood do spring 
The vitall spirits, which, borne In arteries, 
Continual! motion to all parts doe bring. 
Sir J. Dories, Nosce Teipsum. 
spirit 
Adam, now enforced to close his eyes, 
Sunk down, and all his spirit* became entranced. 
Millini, P. L., Xi. 419. 
Thus lunch cannot be denied, that our smil acteth not 
immediately only upon bones, Hesh, brains, anil other such 
like gross parts of the l>ody, but, first and chiefly, upon 
the animal spirits, as the immediate instruments of sense 
and fancy, as that by whose vigour and activity the other 
heavy and unwieldy bulk of the body is so nimbly moved. 
And therefore we know no reason why we may nut assent 
here to that of Porphyrius : that the blood is the food ami 
nourishment of the spirit, and that this spirit is the vehicle 
of the soul, or the more immediate seat of life. 
Oudwurt/t, Intellectual System, v. 3. 
2. The principle of life conceived as a frag- 
ment of the divine essence breathed into man 
by God. This conception is developed in the Old and 
New Testaments, in the writings of the Neoplatonists, and 
by theologians. In Biblical and theological language the 
spirit is the highest part of human nature, as most akin 
to the divine, connected mediately with the body through 
the soul, and spoken of alone, or in contradistinction to 
the body, or as distinguished from both body and soul 
(see soul). 
All flesh died that moved upon the earth, ... all in 
whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life. 
Gen. vii. 21, 22. 
The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. 2 Ki. II. 15. 
My spirit is consumed, nvy days are extinct, the grave 
is ready for me. Job xvii. 1. 
Who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the 
spirit of the man, which is in him? 1 Cor. it 11 [R. V.]. 
Our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit shall 
vanish as the soft air. Wisdom of Solomon, ii. :i. 
3. Metaphorically, animation; vivacity; exu- 
berance of life ; cheerfulness; courage; mettle; 
temper; humor; mood: usually in the plural. 
But In old writers this meaning is not figurative, since they 
conceived this quality to be due to the tension of animal 
spirits. 
So feble were his spirites, and so low. 
Chaucer, C. T., 1. 1361. 
Hastings went to the council that morning in remarkably 
high spirits. J. Qairdner, Rich. III., ii. 
All furnish'd, all in arms ; . . . 
As full of spirit as the month of May. 
Sliak., 1 Hen. IV., Iv. 1. 101. 
I wonder you can have such spirits under so many dis- 
tresses. Sheridan, School for Scandal, iv. 1. 
4. A peculiar animating and inspiring princi- 
pi e ; dominant influence; genius; that which 
pervades and tempers the conduct and thought 
of men, either singly or (especially) in bodies, 
and characterizes them or their works. 
O spirit of love ! how quick and fresh art thou ! 
Shale., T. N., L 1. 9. 
This shows plainly the democratical spirit which acts 
our deputies. Winthrop, Hist >'ew England, II. 141. 
All seem to feel the spirit of the place, 
And by the general reverence tiod is praised. 
Wordsworth, .Sonnets, iii. 48. 
That is the best part of each writer which has nothing 
pi-hate in It; ... that which in the study of a single 
artist you might not easily find, but in the study of many 
you would abstract as the spirit of them all. 
Emerson, Compensation. 
And that law of force which governs all the changes of 
character in a given people at a given time, which we 
call the Spirit of the Age, this also changes, though more 
slowly still. W. K. Clifford, Lectures, I. 80. 
5. The essence, real meaning, or intent of any 
statement, command, or contract : opposed to 
letter. 
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testa- 
ment ; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter 
killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 2 Cor. iii. 6. 
The scientific principles of Aristotle were in spirit, if 
not in form, in contrast with those of modern science. 
W. Wallace, Epicureanism, p. 171. 
6. Incorporeal, immaterial being or principle ; 
personality, or a personality, unconnected or 
only associated with a body: in Biblical use 
applied to God, and specifically [cap.'} to the 
third person of the Trinity (the Holy Spirit) ; 
also to supernatural good and evil beings (an- 
gels). 
God is a .-//'//' ; and they that worship him must wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth. John iv. 24. 
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for 
the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of 
God. 1 Cor. ii. 10. 
Putting together the ideas of thinking and willing, or 
the power of moving or quieting corporeal motion, joined 
to substance, of which we have no distinct idea, we have 
the idea of an immaterial *i>irit. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. xxiii. 15. 
If we seclude space out of our consideration, there will 
remain but two sorts of substances in the world : that is, 
matter and mind ; or, as we otherwise call them, body and 
spirit. Watts, Logic, I. ii. i 2. 
Spirit exists everywhere in nature, and we know of no 
spirit outside of nature. 
Uaeckel, Evol. of Man (trans.), II. 455. 
7. A person considered with respect to his 
peculiar characteristics of mind or temper, 
