spina

Forms

spina f (plural spine, diminutive spinétta)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin spīna (“thorn; prickle”), which in Latin also meant “thorny shrub”, the spine of the hedgehog and porcupine, the backbone and the fishbone.^[2][3][4][1] The same word is French épine, Occitan espina, Catalan espina, Spanish espina, Portuguese espinha, Sardinian ispine, Romansh spina, Friulian spine and Dalmatian spaina.^[3][5] In northern Italy and the Grisons it also means “spigot, tap”, and the dialects have derivatives for the tap of a cask such as Venetian spinelo.^[5]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *speinā, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Indo-European *spein-, with cognates such as Latvian spina (“rod”) and Old High German spenula (“hairpin”).^[6][1] He thinks it may be built on the same base as spīca (“ear of grain”), a connection DELI and Devoto also mention as uncertain.^[6][2][7] Wiktionary takes it to a root Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”),^[1] and Nocentini to a root *spī- for pointed things, which also gave pīnus (“pine”); for him the figurative senses “backbone” and “fishbone” show that the thorn and the ear of grain were once the same word.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a poet of the Sicilian School before 1250, for the hard, pointed growth on a plant, the thorn.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The animal senses are early: the fishbone in the 13th-century Italian Seneca, the sting of insects in Latini before 1294, and the spines of hedgehogs and porcupines in Brancati in the 15th century.^[2] Dante uses the word for a torment or grief (before 1321), and Passavanti in 1354 for a sharp stab of pain.^[2]

In the north the word named the tap of a cask: Medieval Latin spina in this sense is recorded at Vicenza in 1264, Italian spina fecciaia, the spigot at the bottom of a vessel for drawing off the lees, appears in the Italian Crescenzi around 1350, and plain spina in a Venetian decree of 1513; the hole for the tap follows in 1641.^[2] Hence birra alla spina, beer on draught.^[8] The founders' sense, the plug that closes the channel from the furnace to the mould, is recorded before 1537 in Biringuccio, and the electric plug from the first years of the 20th century (1902 in Nocentini, 1907 in DELI).^[2][3]

The derivatives follow the shape of the thorn: the stickleback spinarello and the dogfish spinarolo are named after their spines, the dog spinone after its bristly coat, and the mineral spinello after the pointed form of its crystals; the slang spinello “joint” (1972) is named after the improvised, pointed cigarettes of prisoners.^[2][3] The spinetta, a keyboard instrument whose strings were plucked by pointed quills, passed into Spanish, Portuguese and French.^[5]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – A poet of the Sicilian School uses spina for a thorn.^[2]
• 1264 – Medieval Latin spina “tap of a cask” is recorded at Vicenza.^[2]
• Before 1294 – Latini uses it for the sting of an insect.^[2]
• Before 1315 – Bonvesin de la Riva uses spinoso “thorny”.^[2]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for a torment.^[2]
• 1354 – Passavanti uses it for a sharp pain.^[2]
• 1513 – Spina “tap” appears in a decree of the Great Council of Venice.^[2]
• 1907 – The electric plug is recorded.^[2]
• 1972 – Spinello “joint” is first recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A thorn: a hard, pointed woody outgrowth on the stem of some plants, or an organ changed into such a point: Il giardiniere si è graffiato sulle spine del roseto.^{[4][9][10][1]}
2. (chiefly plural) Thorny plants or branches, brambles.^[4][11][10]
3. (figurative) A deep sorrow, worry or torment; a person or thing that causes it, as in spina nel fianco “thorn in the side”.^[4][9][10]
4. (colloquial) A sharp pain, a stitch.^[4][10]
5. (zoology) A spine or quill on the skin of some animals, such as the hedgehog and porcupine; a spiny ray of a fish's fin.^[4][11][12]
6. A fishbone, single or as the whole skeleton: Questo pesce ha troppe spine.^[4][11][1]
7. The sting of an insect.^[4][10]
8. (anatomy) A pointed projection of a bone, as in spina iliaca;^[4][9][10] spina dorsale is the backbone.^[4][9][10]
9. The tap or spigot of a cask, and the hole it fits into, as in birra alla spina “draught beer”.^[4][8][1]
10. (electricity) A plug that fits into a socket.^[11][1]
11. (mechanics) A small, usually cylindrical pin that joins parts together.^[11]

Word family

• spinale
• spinarolo
• spinoso
• spinare
• spinarello
• spinato
• spineto
• spinone
• spinotto
• spinello
• spinetta
• spino

Related words

• spiga
• French épine
• Latin spīna

Usage notes

Stare sulle spine means to be on tenterhooks, and the proverb non c'è rosa senza spine says that no pleasure comes without some pain.^[9][12][10] The masculine spino names thorny shrubs, as in spino nero.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
9. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana