Etymograph

English

spinula

Spinula comes from Latin spīnula ‘diminutive of spīna (“thorn”)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘long, thin, sharp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spey-1‘long, thin, sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*speinā1‘thorn’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīna1‘thorn’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīnula2‘diminutive of spīna (“thorn”)’
  5. Englishtodayspinula2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin spinula
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English spinula

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spey-Wiktionary, Latin spinula‘long, thin, sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*speināWiktionary, Latin spinula‘thorn’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīnaWiktionary, Latin spinula‘thorn’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspīnulaWiktionary, English spinula‘diminutive of spīna (“thorn”)’
  5. EnglishtodayspinulaWiktionary, English spinula

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘long, thin, sharp’

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

through Proto-Italic *speinā ‘thorn’

buckthorn, spinel, 10 more

through Latin spīna ‘thorn’

spine, spinal, spina, 12 more

Today it means

noun —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spinula”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin spinula. 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- / spinula

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