calamistrum
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowing from Latin calamistrum (“a curling-iron”).
NounEdit
calamistrum (plural calamistra)
- (zoology) A comb-like structure on the metatarsus of the hind legs of certain spiders (Ciniflonidae), used to curl certain fibres in the construction of their webs.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for calamistrum in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
LatinEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Apparently from Ancient Greek καλάμιστρος (kalámistros, “stipula”), from κάλαμος (kálamos, “reed”), referring to the tubular shape of the heated curling irons. Perhaps influenced by Latin instrumental suffix -trum.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
calamistrum n (genitive calamistrī); second declension
- curling iron, curling tongs
- excessively ornamented words
InflectionEdit
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | calamistrum | calamistra |
| genitive | calamistrī | calamistrōrum |
| dative | calamistrō | calamistrīs |
| accusative | calamistrum | calamistra |
| ablative | calamistrō | calamistrīs |
| vocative | calamistrum | calamistra |
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- Portuguese: calamistro
ReferencesEdit
- calamistrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- calamistrum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- calamistrum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin