spatula

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈspa.tʊ.ɫa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈspaː.tu.la]^[1]

Forms

spatula f (genitive spatulae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin spatha (“broad flat blade”) + -ula, with the variant spelling spathula.^[2][3][1] Spatha comes from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “broad blade”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD records it as a flat batten of wood used in setting dislocated limbs.^[2] Apicius, whom Köbler dates to the 4th century AD, uses spatula porcina for a shoulder of pork.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was a broad flat piece, and Georges and Gaffiot give the senses of a small stirring spoon or spatula in Pliny Valerianus and of the shoulder blade in Apicius.^[5][7] The Vulgate uses it of a palm branch in Leviticus, and the land surveyors of a boundary stone shaped like a spatha.^[3][7]

In medieval British Latin it was a flat tool, as used in surgery.^[8] English spatula is recorded in the early 15th century for a medical instrument, and as a broad flat blade since the 1520s.^[4]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – Apicius uses it of a shoulder of pork.^[3][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a palm branch.^[3][6]
• early 15th century – English spatula is recorded as a medical instrument.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flat piece of wood, a batten.^[2]
2. A spatula, stirring spoon.^[5][7]
3. A shoulder, shoulder blade.^[5][1]
4. A little palm branch.^[3][1]
5. A boundary stone shaped like a blade.^[5][7]

Word family

• spatulātus
• spathulātus

Related words

• spatha
• English spatula
• English spade

Usage notes

A homograph spatula “sensual indulgence”, borrowed from Greek Ancient Greek σπατάλη (spatálē), occurs in Varro's Menippean Satires.^[2][5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press