† spereadj.
Obsolete.
Frail, delicate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [adjective]
tender?c1225
feeble1340
infirmc1374
slight1393
weakc1400
sperec1440
silly1587
unsound1590
immaterial1609
paper1615
unsubstantiala1617
reedy1628
slighty1662
insufficient1700
flimsy1702
bandbox1727
unconfirmed1752
insubstantial1767
gossamery1790
thread-paper1803
gossamer1806
slimsy1845
unendurable1879
bandboxy1891
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 468 Spere, or fres (K. freshe or brityl, P. britill or brekyll), fragilis.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 221 My chayere is my body of speer brotyl & rotyn bonys, in whiche my soule sytteth.
1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hawking e viii b She may be callid a Spere hawke for of all the hawkys that ther be she is moost spere, that is to say moost tendre to kepe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.c1440