- English philosopher and sociologist who applied the theory of natural selection to human societies (1820-1903)

1. One who has the care of the spence, or buttery. [Obs.] Promptorium Parvulorum.

1. A short jacket worn by men and by women. Ld. Lutton.

1. A fore- and-aft sail, abaft the foremast or the mainmast, hoisted upon a small supplementary mast and set with a gaff and no boom; a trysail carried at the foremast or mainmast; -- named after its inventor, Knight Spencer, of England [1802].

Spencer mast
a small mast just abaft the foremast or mainmast, for hoisting the spencer. R. H. Dana, Jr.