Spice , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spiced (?);
p. p. & vb. n. Spicing (?).]
1.
To season with spice, or as with spice; to mix
aromatic or pungent substances with; to flavor; to
season; as, to spice wine; to spice one's
words with wit.
She 'll receive thee, but will spice thy bread
With flowery poisons.
Chapman. 2. To fill or impregnate with the odor of
spices.
In the spiced Indian air, by night.
Shak.
3. To render nice or dainty; hence, to render scrupulous.
[Obs.] "A spiced conscience." Chaucer.
Spice (?), n. [OE. spice, spece, spice, species, OF. espice, espece, F.
épice spice,
espèce species, fr. L. species particular sort or kind, a species, a sight, appearance, show, LL., spices, drugs, etc., of
the same sort, fr. L. specere to look. See
Spy, and cf. Species.]
1. Species; kind. [Obs.]
The spices of penance ben three.
Chaucer. Abstain you from all
evil spice.
Wyclif (1. Thess,v. 22). Justice, although it be but one entire virtue, yet is described in two kinds of spices. The one is named
justice distributive, the other is called commutative.
Sir T. Elyot.
2. A vegetable production of many kinds, fragrant or aromatic and pungent to the taste, as
pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, ginger, cloves,
etc., which are used in cookery and to flavor
sauces, pickles, etc.
Hast
thou aught in thy purse
[bag] any hot spices?
Piers Plowman. 3.
Figuratively, that which
enriches or alters the quality of a
thing in a small degree, as spice alters the taste of
food; that which gives zest or pungency; a slight flavoring; a relish; hence, a small quantity or admixture; a sprinkling; as, a spice of mischief.
So much of the will, with a spice of the willful.
Coleridge.
Hear it pronounced