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espina

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word espina

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1200 La fazienda de Ultra Mar, in a 13th-century copy More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin spina via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic *speinā
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin spīna
French épine
Spanish espina
From the same root
Latin spīnālis ← spīna
Latin spīnōsus ← spīna
Latin spīnus ← spīna

Pronunciation

  • /esˈpina/, [esˈpi.na][1]

Forms

espina f (plural espinas)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish espina, inherited from Latin spīna (“thorn; fishbone”).[2][3][4][1] Corominas notes that it is popular and common to all the Western Romance languages: Portuguese espinha, Galician espiña, Asturian espina, Catalan espina, Occitan espina, French épine and Italian spina.[2][5][6] Using the descendant of arista for “fishbone” instead is a Gallo-Romance innovation, already in Ausonius, which reached only northern Catalonia and most of Occitania.[2][7]

De Vaan reconstructs *speinā and *spein-/*spiHn-, with cognates in Latvian spina (“rod”) and Russian спина (spiná, “back, spine”), and suggests that it shares its base with spīca (“ear of grain”);[8] Umbrian may have had the word too.[8] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”).[1] Corominas weighs a link with a Celtic root of the words for “thorn” but thinks it less probable.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest CDH hit is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), a Bible paraphrase: entre espinas e cardos “among thorns and thistles”.[9] The Vida de Santa María Egipcíaca (c. 1215) compares the saint's neck to la flor dell espina, and Berceo, Corominas's first record, crowns Christ's head d'espinas agudas.[9][2][10] Corominas notes that the earlier examples in Oelschläger's list of charters may be Latin.[2]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose already uses the word for a plant's thorn, for a splinter (the thorn drawn from a lion's paw), for a fish bone and for a tortoise's shell.[11] The sense “spine, backbone” is in the Academy's dictionary of 1817, and espina dorsal is listed in 1884.[12][13] The figurative “suspicion” began in the thieves' cant: Hidalgo's glossary (1609) has espina “sospecha”, and Autoridades (1732) notes that it had spread to ordinary speech, as in esto me ha dado mala espina.[14][15] Its other figurative uses are a lasting sorrow and a scruple; the Quijote has como espinas, que me punzen el alma.[4][16]

In 1884 the Academy added the low wall in the middle of a Roman circus.[17] In the Dominican Republic it is also a pimple.[18]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – espinas e cardos in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (in a 13th-century copy).[9]
  • 1220–1250 – Berceo, Corominas's first record.[2][3]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it for the bones of fish.[11]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin spina and sentes.[19]
  • 1609 – Hidalgo's cant glossary records espina “suspicion”.[14]
  • 1732 – Autoridades records dar mala espina as general use.[15]
  • 1884 – the Academy adds the wall of the Roman circus and espina dorsal.[17][13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A thorn or prickle growing from the woody tissue of some plants: Me pinché con una espina del cactus..[4][1]
  2. A small sharp splinter of wood or another rough material.[4]
  3. A fishbone: each of the thin pointed bones of a fish's skeleton.[4][1]
  4. The spine, backbone (columna vertebral).[4][1]
  5. (figurative) A scruple or suspicion, as in dar mala espina “to arouse suspicion”.[4][20]
  6. (figurative) A deep and lasting sorrow: Aquella derrota fue una espina para todo el equipo.[4]
  7. (anatomy) A long, thin bony process (apófisis).[4]
  8. (architecture) The low wall dividing the arena of a Roman circus, round which the chariots raced.[4]
  9. (Nicaragua) Annoyance caused by someone.[4]

Word family

  • espín
  • espinal
  • espinar
  • espinazo
  • espinilla
  • espinoso
  • espinapez
  • espinado
  • espino
  • espinudo
  • espiga
  • espinela
  • Latin spīna
  • Portuguese espinha

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include espina dorsal “spine”, espina bífida “spina bifida”, dar mala espina and the proverb no hay rosa sin espina.[4][1] espino “hawthorn” is not formed from espina but continues Latin spinus.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 746
  3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. espina
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. espina
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8150
  6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 6269
  7. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 645
  8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. spīna
  9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. espina
  10. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. espina
  11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. espina
  12. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 388
  13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1116
  14. ^ a b Hidalgo, Juan (1609), Romances de germanía de varios autores, con el vocabulario por la orden del a.b.c. para declaración de sus términos y lengua, Barcelona: Sebastián de Cormellas (ed. Madrid 1779), p. 175
  15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 604
  16. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 498
  17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 460
  18. ^ Academia Dominicana de la Lengua; Instituto Guzmán Ariza de Lexicografía (2024), Diccionario del español dominicano, 2nd ed., online at https://ded.igalex.org, p. s.v. espina
  19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 350
  20. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. espina

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Espina.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/espina. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·