Word.ws English Dictionary

spencer

/ˈspɛnsə/US/ˈspɛnsɚ/

spencer noun: a short double-breasted men's overcoat worn in the 18th and 19th centuries.

spencer: a short double-breasted men's overcoat worn in the 18th and 19th centuries
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Noun

spencer (plural spencers)

  1. (historical) A short double-breasted men's overcoat worn in the 18th and 19th centuries.
  2. (historical) A short, close-fitting jacket primarily worn by women and children in the early 19th century.
    • In order to support and illustrate this assertion, I shall commence my remarks with the spencer, which has often been attacked by satyrical and cynical writers as an absurd and original dress.1799, D.D., “To the Editor”, in The Scots Magazine, volume 61, page 677
    • To have seen Miss Squeers now, divested of the brown beaver, the green veil, and the blue curl-papers, and arrayed in all the virgin splendor of a white frock and spencer, with a white mulsin bonnet, and an imitative damask rose in full bloom on the inside thereof;1799, Sir Francis d' Ivernois, Historical and Political Survey of the Losses Sustained by ..., page 97
  3. (historical) A (usually woollen) vest worn by women and girls for extra warmth.
    • I am seized with an angry resentment against the conventions of twenty years ago, which wrapped up my comely adolescent body in woollen combinations, black cashmere stockings, “liberty” bodice, dark stockinette knickers, flannel petticoat and often, in addition, a long-sleeved, high-necked, knitted...1933, Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth, Penguin, published 2005, page 34
  4. A large loose-fitted gaffsail on a square-rigger or barque, used from the nineteenth century onwards.

Proper noun capitalized: Spencer

Spencer (countable and uncountable, plural Spencers)

  1. (countable) An English surname originating as an occupation.
    • Other groups have different messages: the National Policy Institute, fronted by Richard Spencer and designed to “elevate the consciousness of whites”; the Occidental Quarterly, run by CMS member Kevin MacDonald and presenting itself as a scholarly journal; American Third Position, later rebranded...2022 May 20, Elle Reeve, “How White ‘replacement theory’ evolved from elderly racists to teens online to the alleged inspiration for another racist mass homicide”, in CNN
    Synonyms:
    Spenser
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of general 19th century and later usage.
    • Later, a 'person of interest' was said to be in custody in connection with Kirk's shooting, Utah governor Spencer Cox announced Wednesday evening.2025 September 10, Joe Hutchison, “Tragedy as Charlie Kirk's wife left behind with two young children after conservative activist is fatally shot”, in Daily Mail
  3. A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.
  4. A suburb of Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia; probably named for British politician George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer.
  5. A hamlet in Clark County, Idaho.
  6. A town, the county seat of Owen County, Indiana; named for Indiana militia officer Spier Spencer.
  7. A city, the county seat of Clay County, Iowa.
  8. A town in Worcester County, Massachusetts; named for Massachusetts governor Spencer Phips.
  9. An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for a local merchant.
  10. A village in Nebraska; perhaps named for Alabama statesman George E. Spencer.
  11. A town and village in Tioga County, New York; named for New York statesman Ambrose Spencer.
  12. A town in North Carolina; named for railroad executive Samuel Spencer.
Show 10 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A village in Ohio.
  2. A city in Oklahoma.
  3. A city in South Dakota; named for railroad official H. Spencer.
  4. A town, the county seat of Van Buren County, Tennessee; named for longhunter Thomas Sharp Spencer.
  5. An unincorporated community in Virginia; named for first settler James Spencer Jr.
  6. A city, the county seat of Roane County, West Virginia.
  7. A town and village in Wisconsin; named for the town in Massachusetts.
  8. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Spencer Township.
  9. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Spencer County.
  10. An English earldom.

spencer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

spencer in Hindi

स्पेंसर, स्पेन्सर

spencer in Tamil

ஸ்பென்சர்

spencer in Marathi

स्पेंसर, स्पेन्सर

spencer in Urdu

سپینسر, اسپینسر
More languagesFewer languages
spencer in Bengali
স্পেন্সার, স্পেনসার
spencer in Telugu
స్పెన్సర్
spencer in Malayalam
സ്പെൻസർ
spencer in Kannada
ಸ್ಪೆನ್ಸರ್
spencer in Punjabi
ਸਪੈਂਸਰ, ਸਪੈਨਸਰ, ਸਪੇਂਸਰ
spencer in Gujarati
સ્પેન્સર, સ્પેંસર
spencer in Odia
ସ୍ପେଂସର
spencer in Nepali
स्पेन्सर, स्पेंसर

Examples of spencer in a sentence

  • Spencer University lays claim to the recently published discovery.
  • Spencer read Greats at Oxford, taking a starred first.
  • Spencer came with all the soft-skill attributes of a desk officer.

All 12 example sentences with spencer

Synonyms of spencer

Forms of spencer

Noun
pluralspencers
Proper noun
pluralSpencers
alternative formSpenser

Plural of spencer: spencers

Origin of spencer

From the family name Spencer. The jacket is probably named after George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834).

An occupational surname from Middle English Spenser, Spencer, Spensier, from the common noun spenser (“spencer”), denoting someone who works in a spense (“spence”), or as a butler or steward.

Words formed from spencer

Phrases with spencer

Words that rhyme with spencer

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about spencer

What does spencer mean?
Spencer means a short double-breasted men's overcoat worn in the 18th and 19th centuries.
What is spencer in Hindi?
Spencer in Hindi is स्पेंसर, स्पेन्सर. See Spencer meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is spencer?
Spencer can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce spencer?
Spencer is pronounced /ˈspɛnsə/ (UK).
What is the plural of spencer?
The plural of spencer is spencers.

Words near spencer in the dictionary

  1. spenard
  2. spenard divorce
  3. Spenard divorces
  4. spence
  5. Spencean
  6. spencer
  7. Spencer County
  8. Spencer Gulf
  9. Spencer steak
  10. Spencer steaks
  11. Spencerian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spencer (page history and authors); Spencer (page history and authors); spencer (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spencer (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spencer.wav, en-ca-Spencer.oga.

Cite this entry: “spencer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spencer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.