spiralis

Forms

spīrālis (neuter spīrāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It was formed in Medieval Latin from Latin spīra (“coil, twist”) + -ālis.^[1][2][3] The base spīra is borrowed from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα (speîra, “a winding, a coil”).^[1][3] Wiktionary and Etymonline connect the Greek word with Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to turn, twist, wind”), but Etymonline notes that Beekes seems doubtful.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Etymonline dates the Medieval Latin word to the middle of the 13th century, in the sense “coiling, winding around a fixed centre”.^[3] Köbler records it from Latham's dictionary of British medieval Latin, with the sense “shaped like a snail's shell”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective described anything wound like the thread of a screw or a coil round a centre.^[3][2] The Latin Wiktionary also gives the feminine as a noun for the mathematical curve, the spiral.^[4]

From Medieval Latin it passed into French as spiral, which English borrowed in the 1550s;^[3] German Spirale goes back to it too.^[2]

Timeline

• mid-13th century – Medieval Latin spīrālis “winding around a fixed centre”.^[3]
• 1550s – English borrows spiral through French.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) spiral, coiling, winding around a centre.^[3][1][2]

Noun

1. (New Latin, feminine) A spiral, the mathematical curve.^[4]

Related words

• spīra
• English spiral

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Victionarium (Latin Wiktionary), la.wiktionary.org