spado

Forms

spadō m (genitive spadōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σπάδων (spádōn, “eunuch”).^[2][3][1] Köbler compares the root Proto-Indo-European *spē(i)- (“to pull, stretch”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Publilius Syrus.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a eunuch, and also any impotent man;^[2] Lewis & Short note that in the Digest it is wider than castrātus, covering impotence by nature as well as by castration.^[4] Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of barren shoots and of plants that bear no fruit or seed.^[2] Vegetius has equus spadō for a gelding, and in Medieval Latin it means a gelding or a wether.^[5] Church Latin glosses it “eunuch”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Publilius Syrus.^[3]
• 1st century AD – Columella of barren shoots.^[2][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of palms without fruit.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A eunuch; any impotent man.^[2][4][6][1]
2. Of plants, a barren shoot or plant.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A gelding; a wether.^[5]

Word family

• spadōnātus
• spadōnīnus
• spadōnius

Related words

• castrātus
• eunūchus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson