spinal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spaɪ.nəl/, /spaɪ.nl̩/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin spīnālis (“of a thorn or the spine”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin spīna (“backbone; thorn”) (see spine).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the backbone, in spinal marrow or cord: 1578 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1570s in Etymonline.^[6][4][2]

Semantic evolution

It is used with other nouns, as spinal artery and spinal canal, from 1725,^[6] and of diseases affecting the spine from 1838.^[6] The spinal tap, a lumbar puncture, is recorded from 1960.^[2] As a noun, a spinal anaesthetic, it is from 1944.^[4][7] A separate obsolete spinal was a textile fabric, from 1399–1400.^[6]

Timeline

• 1578 – spinal marrow, spinal cord.^[6]
• 1725 – spinal artery, canal.^[6]
• 1838 – spinal disease.^[6]
• 1944 – a spinal (anaesthetic).^[4]
• 1960 – spinal tap.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to or near the spine or the spinal cord.

Noun

1. An anaesthetic injected near the spinal cord.

Word family

• spinally
• dorsispinal
• nonspinal
• intraspinal
• prespinal
• interspinal
• cerebrospinal
• corticospinal

Related words

• spine
• spinal cord
• spiny

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin