Etymologically
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spado

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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

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