spiculum Latin · revision 31504
19 Oct 2026, 05:37 by bogdan “Latin la10k: 10 new entries (la75r b07)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *speig-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * Classical: [ˈspiː.kʊ.ɫũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈspiː.ku.lum]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''spīculum''' ''n'' (genitive spīculī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a diminutive formed from [[spīcum|t=point, ear of grain]], a variant of [[spīca]], with the suffix [[m|la|-ulum]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan derives ⟨spīca⟩ from [[itc-pro|*speikā-]] and [[ine-pro|*speig-|t=sharp point]], comparing [[ang|spāca|t=spoke]] and [[nl|spijker|t=nail]].^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) whose letter tells of a man who had the spearhead pulled out of his wound only after he was told his shield was safe.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) By extension it is a pointed weapon, a javelin or arrow, as Virgil's warriors carrying two javelins in the hand.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ Church Latin glosses it “arrow, dart, ray”.^(Stelten 1995) English ''spicule'', in botany and zoology, is from it through French in 1785, after the Latin form itself in 1746.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a spearhead pulled from a wound.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of bee stings and of javelins.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1785 – English [[m|en|spicule]], through French.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The sharp point or head of a [[m|en|spear]] or arrow; a barb.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)
+ # The [[m|en|sting]] of a bee or scorpion.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A [[m|en|javelin]], dart, arrow.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[spīculō]]
+ * [[spiculus]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[spīca]]
+ * [[spīcum]]
+ * [[en|spicule]]
+ * [[en|spike]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}