"spitting image" meaning in English

See spitting image in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈspɪtɪŋ ˈɪmɪdʒ/ [UK] Forms: spitting images [plural]
Etymology: Alteration of earlier spitten image (see spitten). A popular folk etymology explains this phrase as deriving from the idea of a father spitting out a child whole from his mouth, as if giving birth. But spitten image actually developed from spit and image, where spit in this context means “likeness”. Terban further suggests a derivation of this sense of spit from the word spirit, but evidence for this is lacking. Another theory is that the idiom is Biblical, after an image of God spitting into dry earth to make the clay out of which Adam would be formed. Etymology templates: {{m|en|spitten image}} spitten image, {{m|en|spitten}} spitten, {{glossary|folk etymology}} folk etymology, {{m|en||spitten image}} spitten image, {{m|en|spit and image}} spit and image, {{m|en|spit|id=likeness}} spit, {{m|en||spit}} spit, {{m|en|spirit}} spirit Head templates: {{en-noun}} spitting image (plural spitting images)
  1. (colloquial) The exact likeness (of someone). Tags: colloquial Hypernyms: image (english: structurally) Translations (the exact likeness of someone): estampa [feminine] (Catalan), retrat [masculine] (Catalan), 一模一样 (yīmóyīyàng) (Chinese Mandarin), 活像 (huóxiàng) (Chinese Mandarin), být jako by z oka vypadl (Czech), (ze lijken als) twee druppels water (Dutch), aivan samannäköinen kuin [adjective] (Finnish), ilmetty [adjective] (Finnish), portrait craché [masculine] (French), cuspido [masculine] (Galician), Ebenbild [neuter] (German), kiköpött mása (Hungarian), seperti pinang dibelah dua (Indonesian), spaccato [masculine] (Italian), tale e quale (Italian), そっくり (sokkuri) (Japanese), クリソツ (kurisotsu) (Japanese), sobowtór [masculine] (Polish), podobny jak dwie krople wody (Polish), wykapany [adjective] (Polish), cuspido e escarrado [masculine] (Portuguese), вы́литый (výlityj) [adjective] (Russian), вы́литый портре́т (výlityj portrét) [masculine] (Russian), то́чная ко́пия (tóčnaja kópija) [feminine] (Russian), cho coltach ri (Scottish Gaelic), izrezana podoba (Slovene), el vivo retrato [feminine, masculine] (Spanish), la viva imagen (Spanish), la viva estampa (Spanish), викапаний (vykapanyj) [adjective] (Ukrainian)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for spitting image meaning in English (6.3kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spitten image"
      },
      "expansion": "spitten image",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spitten"
      },
      "expansion": "spitten",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "folk etymology"
      },
      "expansion": "folk etymology",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "spitten image"
      },
      "expansion": "spitten image",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit and image"
      },
      "expansion": "spit and image",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit",
        "id": "likeness"
      },
      "expansion": "spit",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "spit"
      },
      "expansion": "spit",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spirit"
      },
      "expansion": "spirit",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Alteration of earlier spitten image (see spitten). A popular folk etymology explains this phrase as deriving from the idea of a father spitting out a child whole from his mouth, as if giving birth. But spitten image actually developed from spit and image, where spit in this context means “likeness”. Terban further suggests a derivation of this sense of spit from the word spirit, but evidence for this is lacking. Another theory is that the idiom is Biblical, after an image of God spitting into dry earth to make the clay out of which Adam would be formed.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spitting images",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spitting image (plural spitting images)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You're the spitting image of my brother.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "Jan 27 2001, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic)",
          "text": "I swear my grandson is the spitting image of my Jeffrey when he was a baby.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The exact likeness (of someone)."
      ],
      "hypernyms": [
        {
          "english": "structurally",
          "word": "image"
        }
      ],
      "id": "en-spitting_image-en-noun-LM8gYBJ-",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) The exact likeness (of someone)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "estampa"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "retrat"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yīmóyīyàng",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "一模一样"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "huóxiàng",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "活像"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "být jako by z oka vypadl"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "(ze lijken als) twee druppels water"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "adjective"
          ],
          "word": "aivan samannäköinen kuin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "adjective"
          ],
          "word": "ilmetty"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "portrait craché"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "cuspido"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Ebenbild"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "kiköpött mása"
        },
        {
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "seperti pinang dibelah dua"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "spaccato"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "tale e quale"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "sokkuri",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "そっくり"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "kurisotsu",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "クリソツ"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "sobowtór"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "podobny jak dwie krople wody"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "adjective"
          ],
          "word": "wykapany"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "cuspido e escarrado"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "výlityj",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "adjective"
          ],
          "word": "вы́литый"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "výlityj portrét",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "вы́литый портре́т"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "tóčnaja kópija",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "то́чная ко́пия"
        },
        {
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "cho coltach ri"
        },
        {
          "code": "sl",
          "lang": "Slovene",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "izrezana podoba"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "el vivo retrato"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "la viva imagen"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "word": "la viva estampa"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "vykapanyj",
          "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
          "tags": [
            "adjective"
          ],
          "word": "викапаний"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspɪtɪŋ ˈɪmɪdʒ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spitting image"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spitten image"
      },
      "expansion": "spitten image",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spitten"
      },
      "expansion": "spitten",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "folk etymology"
      },
      "expansion": "folk etymology",
      "name": "glossary"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "spitten image"
      },
      "expansion": "spitten image",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit and image"
      },
      "expansion": "spit and image",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit",
        "id": "likeness"
      },
      "expansion": "spit",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "spit"
      },
      "expansion": "spit",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spirit"
      },
      "expansion": "spirit",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Alteration of earlier spitten image (see spitten). A popular folk etymology explains this phrase as deriving from the idea of a father spitting out a child whole from his mouth, as if giving birth. But spitten image actually developed from spit and image, where spit in this context means “likeness”. Terban further suggests a derivation of this sense of spit from the word spirit, but evidence for this is lacking. Another theory is that the idiom is Biblical, after an image of God spitting into dry earth to make the clay out of which Adam would be formed.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spitting images",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spitting image (plural spitting images)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "english": "structurally",
      "word": "image"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "You're the spitting image of my brother.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "Jan 27 2001, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic)",
          "text": "I swear my grandson is the spitting image of my Jeffrey when he was a baby.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The exact likeness (of someone)."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) The exact likeness (of someone)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspɪtɪŋ ˈɪmɪdʒ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "estampa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "retrat"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yīmóyīyàng",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "一模一样"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "huóxiàng",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "活像"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "být jako by z oka vypadl"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "(ze lijken als) twee druppels water"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "adjective"
      ],
      "word": "aivan samannäköinen kuin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "adjective"
      ],
      "word": "ilmetty"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "portrait craché"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "cuspido"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Ebenbild"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "kiköpött mása"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "seperti pinang dibelah dua"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "spaccato"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "tale e quale"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "sokkuri",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "そっくり"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kurisotsu",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "クリソツ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sobowtór"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "podobny jak dwie krople wody"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "adjective"
      ],
      "word": "wykapany"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "cuspido e escarrado"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "výlityj",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "adjective"
      ],
      "word": "вы́литый"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "výlityj portrét",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "вы́литый портре́т"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "tóčnaja kópija",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "то́чная ко́пия"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "cho coltach ri"
    },
    {
      "code": "sl",
      "lang": "Slovene",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "izrezana podoba"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "el vivo retrato"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "la viva imagen"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "word": "la viva estampa"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "vykapanyj",
      "sense": "the exact likeness of someone",
      "tags": [
        "adjective"
      ],
      "word": "викапаний"
    }
  ],
  "word": "spitting image"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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