spinalis

Forms

spīnālis (neuter spīnāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin spīna (“thorn, spine”) + -ālis.^[1][2][3] The English word spinal comes from it.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first author that has it is Macrobius,^[3] who speaks of the medulla spīnālis, the marrow of the spine.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a Late Latin word,^[2][1] used of the spine or backbone.^[2][5] Etymonline glosses the Late Latin word as “of or pertaining to a thorn or the spine”.^[4]

Timeline

• first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it of the spinal marrow.^[2][3]
• 1570s – English borrows it as spinal.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) Of the spine, spinal.^[2][1]

Related words

• spina

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn