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# spence
- URL: https://keithhayden.net/spence/
- Published: 2026-08-30T13:58:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-30T14:23:57.000Z
- Description: An archaic British regionalism
- Author: Keith Hayden
- Tags: #hfd-word

30 AUG 2026 

0/5 word facts discovered 

## spence

/spɛns/

noun

(British) pantry

spence 30·08·26 

14th c. Middle English · pantry 

01 Keith’s definition 

I had no idea this was a word. I thought it was a name

02 Official meaning 

(British) pantry

03 In use 

> Devastating as a speeding whale, the rift between brothers born in a dim spence was a slumbering god he’d prayed to for far too long.

04 Hear it 

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### Useless facts

- **The surprisingly eventful life of *spence***  
In the 14th century, Middle English speakers used **spence** for a pantry or larder. The word traveled through Anglo-French **espence** from Medieval Latin **expensa**, which connected provisions with the cost or outlay required to supply them.  
That household history explains why the word looks so much like a name. **Spence** and **Spencer** became occupational surnames for people associated with dispensing provisions. The same family also reaches into *expense* and *dispense*, leaving food storage, administration, and spending packed onto neighboring linguistic shelves.
- The Scrabble score is **10 points**: S = 1, P = 3, E = 1, N = 1, C = 3, and E = 1.
- **6 letters** and **1 syllable.**
- It is pronounced **/spɛns/**, exactly like the familiar personal name and rhyming with *fence*.
- Merriam-Webster labels the pantry sense **dialectal and chiefly British**.
- British dialect dictionaries also record *spence* as a **monetary allowance** or a **cottage parlour**.
- *Pantry* descends from a word associated with **bread**; *spence* descends from words associated with **provisions and distribution**.
- The occupational surname **Spencer** originally referred to a steward or household officer who dispensed provisions.

HAYDEN’S FIELD DICTIONARY [ ← Return to the Word Archive ](https://keithhayden.net/haydens-field-dictionary-archive/) 

WORD COMPLETE **spence** noun 5 FACTS RECOVERED FIELD ARCHAEOLOGIST **YOU**