spoor
/spʊɹ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms spoors spooring spoored
- noun The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.
- verb (transitive) To track (an animal) by following its spoor.
- proper noun An occupational surname from Middle English
Synonyms
Spaw Spoore Spoores Spoors Spor Spore Spores Spors Spur Spurs
Etymology
Early 19th century, from Afrikaans spoor, from Dutch spoor (“track”).
Akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor), and German Spur, all from Proto-Germanic *spurą. Compare spurn.
From the Dutch and English surname, from the noun spur. From being a maker of spurs.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The track or trail of any wild animal; as, the spoor of an elephant; --used originally by travelers in South Africa.
- verb To follow a spoor or trail. [R.]
Etymology [D. spoor; akin to AS. spor, G. spur, and from the root of E. spur. sq. root171. See Spur.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “spoor”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details