A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.
puhekieltä A small amount of something, such as an idea, that has the potential to become something greater, just as a spark can start a fire.
Shakespeare
if any spark of life be yet remaining
John Locke
We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge.
2013, Phil McNulty, "http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980", BBC Sport, 1 September 2013:
Everton's Marouane Fellaini looks one certain arrival but Moyes, who also saw United held to a draw by Chelsea at Old Trafford on Monday, needs even more of a spark in a midfield that looked laboured by this team's standards.
(in pluralsparksbut treated as a singular) A ship's radiooperator.