Etymologically
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spatula

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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

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