spadix

See also: Spadix

English

Etymology

Via Latin spādīx from Ancient Greek σπᾱ́δῑξ (spā́dīx, “palm branch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspeɪdɪks/
• Rhymes: -eɪdɪks

Noun

spadix (plural spadixes or spadices)

1. (botany) A fleshy spike (inflorescence) with reduced flowers, usually enclosed by a spathe, characteristic of aroids.
   • 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 148:

     The spadix of this plant is frequently quite white, or coloured, and the leaves liable to be streaked with white, and to have black, or scarlet blotches on them.

2. (zoology) A male sexual organ of certain cephalopods and hydrozoans (especially the nautilus), used to transfer sperm.
   • 2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 57:

     However, the shells of modern nautiluses show the opposite pattern—males are somewhat larger than females, with a wider aperture to accommodate the spadix.

Derived terms

• spadiceous

Translations

fleshy spike

• Bulgarian: спадикс m (spadiks)
• Catalan: espàdix m
• Czech: palice (cs) f
• Danish: kolbe c
• Esperanto: spadiko
• Finnish: puikelo (fi)
• German: Kolben (de) m
• Ido: spadico (io)
• Polish: kolba (pl) f
• Romanian: spadice (ro) n, spadix (ro) n
• Russian: початок (ru) (počatok)
• Spanish: espádice (es) m
• Swedish: kolv (sv) c
• Tagalog: balutbulak
• Turkish: spadiks, koçan (tr)

See also

• Araceae
• spathe

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek σπᾱ́δῑξ (spā́dīx)bor.

Latin spādīx

Borrowed from Ancient Greek σπᾱ́δῑξ (spā́dīx).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈspaː.diːks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈspaː.diks]

Noun

spādīx m (genitive spādīcis); third declension

1. spadix; inflorescence (especially of a palm tree)
2. a type of lyre

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant or non-Greek-type).

	singular	plural
nominative	spādīx	spādīcē̆s
genitive	spādīcis	spādīcum
dative	spādīcī	spādīcibus
accusative	spādīca spādīcem	spādīcas spādīcēs
ablative	spādīce	spādīcibus
vocative	spādīx	spādīcē̆s

Adjective

spādīx (genitive spādīcis); third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)

1. red like dates on a branch; spadiceous

Usage notes

• All Roman commentaries on this color term are connected to the explication of a passage of Vergil about horses.
• Marcus Fronto, as told by Aulus Gellius, explained the color as being proper to dates on a palm branch before they are fully "cooked" by the sun, and gave pūniceus and rutilus as synonyms of it, and also added that the color is shining and rich.
• Later commentaries on the color term in Vergil fix it as a brownish color that horses may have, explicitly different from pūniceus by a change of degree. It may be speculated that something of the poetic license was lost in these didactic commentaries.

Declension

Third declension one-termination adjective (Greek-type, normal variant or non-Greek-type)

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	spādīx			spādīcē̆s	spādīca spādīcia
genitive	spādīcis			spādīcum spādīcium
dative	spādīcī			spādīcibus
accusative	spādīca spādīcem	spādīx		spādīcas spādīcīs spādīcēs	spādīca spādīcia
ablative	spādīcī spādīce			spādīcibus
vocative	spādīx			spādīcē̆s	spādīca spādīcia

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, cānus, marmoreus (poetic), eburneus (poetic), niveus (poetic), argenteus (poetic), lacteus (poetic)	pullus, mūrīnus (of livestock)	niger, āter, furvus, fuscus ("swarthy"), piceus (poetic)
ruber, russus, rūbidus (dark), flammeus (poetic); rutilus, pūniceus, spādīx (poetic), sanguineus (poetic)	rūfus, rutilus, flāvus, aureus (poetic), rōbus (of oxen), croceus (poetic), rāvus (of eyes); fulvus (poetic), niger (of eyes), badius (of horses)	lūteus, flāvus ("blond"), lūridus, gilvus (of horses), helvus (of cattle); cēreus (poetic)
viridis, flāvus (poetic)	viridis, herbeus, fulvus (poetic)	viridis, glaucus, caeruleus (poetic, only dark)
	glaucus, caeruleus, caesius (of eyes)	caeruleus, līvidus, ferrūgineus (poetic), glaucus
violāceus	purpureus (underlying shade)	roseus

References

• “spadix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “spadix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “spadix”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Noun

spadix n (plural spadice)

1. alternative form of spadice

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	spadix	spadixul	spadice	spadicele
genitive-dative	spadix	spadixului	spadice	spadicelor
vocative	spadixule		spadicelor