spina

See also: Spina, spiną, spină, spíná, špina, and špína

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin spīna (“a thorn; a prickle, spine”). Doublet of spine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspaɪ.nə/
• Rhymes: -aɪnə

Noun

spina (plural spinae)

1. (anatomy) A spine; the backbone.
2. (music) One of the quills of a spinet.
3. (historical) A barrier dividing the Ancient Roman hippodrome longitudinally.

Related terms

• spina bifida
• spina externa
• spina interna

Anagrams

• IP SAN, PAINS, PAINs, Pains, Pisan, Spain, aspin, nipas, pains, pinas, piñas

Esperanto

Etymology

From spino +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈspina]
• Rhymes: -ina
• Hyphenation: spi‧na

Adjective

spina (accusative singular spinan, plural spinaj, accusative plural spinajn)

1. spinal

Faroese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspiːna/

Noun

spina f (genitive singular spinu, uncountable)

1. sperm

Declension

Declension of spina (singular only)
f1s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	spina	spinan
accusative	spinu	spinuna
dative	spinu	spinuni
genitive	spinu	spinunnar

Synonyms

• sáð
• spin

Anagrams

• nispa
• pinsa
• pisan

Gallurese

Etymology

From Classical Latin spīna, from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey-neh₂, derived from the root *spey- (“long; thin; sharp”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspina/
• (Calangianus, Sant'Antonio di Gallura) IPA^(key): /ˈʃpina/

Noun

spina f (plural spini)

1. thorn

Italian

Etymology

From Latin spīna, from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspi.na/
• Rhymes: -ina
• Hyphenation: spì‧na

Noun

spina f (plural spine)

1. thorn
2. spine, prickle
3. plug (electrical)
4. bone (of fish)
5. bunghole

Derived terms

Derived terms

• birra alla spina (“draught/draft beer”)
• spina dorsale
• spinale
• tenere sulle spine
• spinney
• spinoso

Related terms

• spino

Anagrams

• naspi, spani

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈspiː.na/, [ˈs̠piːnä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈspi.na/, [ˈspiːnä]

Noun

spīna f (genitive spīnae); first declension

1. (literal) a thorn or a thorny tree or shrub, such as whitethorn, hawthorn, or blackthorn
2. (transferred sense)
   1. (zootomy) a thorn, spine, prickle
   2. (zootomy) a fishbone
   3. (anatomy) the backbone, spine
   4. a low wall along the centre of a circus (racecourse); a barrier
   5. a toothpick
3. (figurative, in the plural)
   1. (Classical Latin, Medieval Latin) thorns, difficulties, subtleties, perplexities in speaking and debating
      • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Proverbs.15.19:

        Iter pigrōrum quasi sēpēs spīnārum; via iūstōrum absque offendiculō.

        The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns; the way of the just is without offence.
        (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.: 1752 CE)

   2. cares
   3. errors

Inflection

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	spīna	spīnae
Genitive	spīnae	spīnārum
Dative	spīnae	spīnīs
Accusative	spīnam	spīnās
Ablative	spīnā	spīnīs
Vocative	spīna	spīnae

Derived terms

• spīneus
• spīnifer
• spīniger
• Spīniēnsis
• spīnula
• spīnus
• spīnālis
• spīnēscō
• spīnētum
• spīnōsus

 

Related terms

• spīnea
• spīneola
• spīnōsitās
• spīnōsulus

Descendants

See also spīnus

• Dalmatian:
  • spaina
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: spina
  • Neapolitan: spina
  • Sicilian: spina
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: spine
  • Romansch: spina, spegna
  • Venetian: spina
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: èpena
  • Old French: espine
    • French: épine
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: espina
  • Occitan: espina
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: espina
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: espinha
    • Galician: espiña
    • Portuguese: espinha
  • Spanish: espina
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian:

    Campidanese: spina

    Logudorese: ispina

• Ancient borrowings:
  • → Albanian: shpinë
  • → Middle Irish: spín
    • Irish: spíon
    • Scottish Gaelic: spìon
• Learned borrowings:
  • → English: spine
  • → Polish: spina (see there for further descendants)

References

• “spina”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “spina”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• spina in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• spina in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • subtleties of logic; dilemmas: disserendi spinae (Fin. 4. 28. 79)
    
  • minute, captious subdivisions and definitions: spinae partiendi et definiendi (Tusc. 5. 8. 22)
    
• “spina”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “spina”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• “spina”, in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 580

Middle English

Noun

spina

1. Alternative form of spyne

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspi.na/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ina
• Syllabification: spi‧na

Etymology 1

Deverbal from spinać się.

Noun

spina f

1. (slang) sudden jitters or anxiety

Declension

Declension of spina

	singular	plural
nominative	spina	spiny
genitive	spiny	spin
dative	spinie	spinom
accusative	spinę	spiny
instrumental	spiną	spinami
locative	spinie	spinach
vocative	spino	spiny

Etymology 2

Back-formation from spinka.

Noun

spina f

1. (dated) Augmentative of spinka; fastener

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

spina

1. third-person singular present of spinać

Etymology 4

Learned borrowing from Latin spīna, from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey-neh₂, from the root *spey- (“sharp point”).

Noun

spina f

1. (obsolete) spine, vertebral column

   Synonym: kręgosłup

Declension

Declension of spina

	singular	plural
nominative	spina	spiny
genitive	spiny	spin
dative	spinie	spinom
accusative	spinę	spiny
instrumental	spiną	spinami
locative	spinie	spinach
vocative	spino	spiny

Related terms

adjective

• szpiczasty

 

nouns

• szpic
• szpica
• szpilka
• szprycha

 

Descendants

• → Belarusian: спі́на (spína)
• → Latvian: spina
• → Russian: спина́ (spiná)
• → Ukrainian: спи́на (spýna)

Further reading

• spina in Polish dictionaries at PWN