Etymologically
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spiculum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈspiː.kʊ.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈspiː.ku.lum][1]

Forms

spīculum n (genitive spīculī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive formed from spīcum (“point, ear of grain”), a variant of spīca, with the suffix -ulum.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives ⟨spīca⟩ from Proto-Italic *speikā- and Proto-Indo-European *speig- (“sharp point”), comparing Old English spāca (“spoke”) and Dutch spijker (“nail”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] whose letter tells of a man who had the spearhead pulled out of his wound only after he was told his shield was safe.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the sharp point or head of a spear or arrow, or a barb, and the sting of a bee, hornet or scorpion, as Virgil's bees that leave their hidden stings in the veins.[2][3] By extension it is a pointed weapon, a javelin or arrow, as Virgil's warriors carrying two javelins in the hand.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “arrow, dart, ray”.[6] English spicule, in botany and zoology, is from it through French in 1785, after the Latin form itself in 1746.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a spearhead pulled from a wound.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of bee stings and of javelins.[2][5]
  • 1785 – English spicule, through French.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sharp point or head of a spear or arrow; a barb.[2][3][1]
  2. The sting of a bee or scorpion.[2]
  3. A javelin, dart, arrow.[2][1][6]

Word family

  • spīculō
  • spiculus
  • spīca
  • spīcum
  • English spicule
  • English spike

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com