English
tailspine
tail + spine
Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- ‘to tear, fray, shred’
…
Proto-Germanic *taglą ‘hair, fiber’
Proto-West Germanic *tagl
Old English tæġel
Middle English tail
English tail
Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘sharp point’
Proto-Italic *speinā ‘thorn’
Latin spīna ‘thorn’
Old French espine
Middle English spyne ‘a spine’
English spine
Today it means
noun A spine on the end of a tail
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tailspine”. 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 / tailspine