Etymograph

English

spinigrade

Spinigrade comes from Latin spina ‘thorn’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘sharp point’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spey-1‘sharp point’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*speinā1‘thorn’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspina2‘thorn’
  4. Englishtodayspinigrade2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin spina
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English spinigrade

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spey-Wiktionary, Latin spina‘sharp point’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*speināWiktionary, Latin spina‘thorn’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspinaWiktionary, English spinigrade‘thorn’
  4. EnglishtodayspinigradeWiktionary, English spinigrade

Formed from spina ‘thorn’ + -grade ‘means of locomotion’

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘sharp point’

spike, spinach, cusp, asp, spire, spigot, spica, aspic, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *speinā ‘thorn’

buckthorn, spinel, 10 more

through Latin spina ‘thorn’

spine, spinal, spina, 12 more

Today it means

adj Moving by means of spines.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spinigrade”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin spina. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *spey- / spinigrade

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