Spicer
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 One who seasons with spice. historical, uncommon
"And finally, at end of a banquet when candied spices were served, the First Chamberlain handed the dragée box to the Spicer for an assay, and then passed it to the senior person of the Duke's Houshold present; this person presented the box to the Prince, and then returned it to the First Chamberlain, who in turn replaced it into the hands of the Spicer - always assuming this last person to have survived the earlier assay of his product!"
- 2 That which adds spice or (figurative) excitement.
"There are only 13 plots […] and a limited number of story spicers — deception, mistaken identity, unnatural affection […]"
- 3 A spice dealer. historical, obsolete
"The pepperers, spicers, &c. afterwards went to Bucklersbury, where they sold their commodities in the open air."
- 1 A surname originating as an occupation for a spice dealer. countable, uncountable
- 2 A city in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States, named after landowner John M. Spicer. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"And finally, at end of a banquet when candied spices were served, the First Chamberlain handed the dragée box to the Spicer for an assay, and then passed it to the senior person of the Duke's Houshold present; this person presented the box to the Prince, and then returned it to the First Chamberlain, who in turn replaced it into the hands of the Spicer - always assuming this last person to have survived the earlier assay of his product!"
Etymology
From Middle English spicer, spycer, spycere, from Old French espicier (> French épicier), from Latin speciarius (“dealer in spices”), equivalent to spice + -er.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.