spira

Forms

spīra f (genitive spīrae); first declension^[1] Also spelled spēra in Manilius and Statius.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα (speîra, “coil, twist, wreath”).^[2][1][3][4] Köbler and Wiktionary connect it with Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to twist, turn”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ennius,^[3] who in the Annals uses it of a military unit: spīrās legiōnibus nexit.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its main meaning is a coil or winding: Accius writes of Pallas drawing the coils of snakes, and Virgil and Ovid use it of serpents;^[2][5] Pacuvius has coils of rope of esparto.^[2] Pliny the Elder uses it of coils of hair and of the grain of wood, and Lactantius of the coils of the intestines.^[2][5][4] It is the base of a column in Vitruvius,^[2] a kind of twisted pastry in Cato,^[2] and perhaps a band or clasp in Lucilius.^[2] Manilius uses it of the circle of the equator.^[2][5] The OLD also records it for a sodality in some mystery cults, in an inscription.^[2] In medieval Latin from Britain it is a coil or circle, a coiled rope or cable, and the coil of a serpent.^[6] Italian spira continues it.^[5]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a military unit.^[2][3]
• 234–149 BC – Cato gives a recipe for the pastry.^[2][3]
• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of coils of rope.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a snake's coils.^[5][3]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the base of a column.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A coil, fold, twist (of a snake, of rope, of hair).^[2][4][5]
2. The base of a column.^[2][5]
3. A kind of twisted pastry.^[2][5]
4. Perhaps a band or clasp.^[2]
5. A circular or spiral mark, a whorl; the circle of the equator.^[2][5]
6. A military unit.^[2]
7. A sodality in some mystery cults.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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