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• spica
  spica

  noun

  spike.
• Spica
  Spica

  noun

  the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Distance: 260 light years

spica

American  

[spahy-kuh] / ˈspaɪ kə /

noun

spicae, plural spicas plural

1. spike.

2. a type of bandage in the shape of a figure eight, extending from an extremity to the trunk.

3. Astronomy. Spica, a first-magnitude star in the constellation Virgo.

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spica ¹ British  

/ ˈspaɪkə /

noun

1. med a spiral bandage formed by a series of overlapping figure-of-eight turns

2. botany another word for spike 2

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Spica ² British  

/ ˈspiːkə /

noun

1. the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Distance: 260 light years

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Spica Scientific  

/ spī′kə /

1. A bright bluish-white binary star in the constellation Virgo, with an apparent magnitude of 0.96. Scientific name: Alpha Virginis.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• spicae
  plural
• spicas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of spica

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin spīca literally, “ear of grain”; cf. spike ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spica Spica

“I like it because it’s tasty, and mostly because it’s good,” the 8-year-old said, though he rated a new roll with spica tuna he recently tried a “negative million.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

Spike.—French oil of lavender, which is procured from the Lavandula spica, is generally called oil of spike.

From The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants by Piesse, George William Septimus

He poured a little water from his carafe into a saucer, made a compress of lint, fastened it over the injured eye, and secured the whole with a spica bandage, secundum artem.

From Round the Red Lamp by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir

In the south of France, whether the oil be distilled from the flowers of the Lavandula vera or Lavandula spica, it is named oil of lavender.

From The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants by Piesse, George William Septimus

The most commonly known species are L. vera, L. spica and L stæchas.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 799, April 25, 1891 by Various

“We can tell you it’s a tanker, it’s a fishing vessel, it’s a speedboat, it’s a sailing boat,” said Zack Spica, a University of Michigan assistant professor who co-founded Lumetec, which is selling the technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

Though the Venus and Spica conjunction is coming Sunday, the pair can be seen by the naked eye on any of the coming evenings about an hour after the sun sets.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 3, 2021

Using masks, toy-theater techniques and a variety of puppets designed by Spica Wobbe, they imagine those personal histories in this play, set within a tenement where the walls have 40 layers.

From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2018

Jupiter — hanging out near the star Spica in the constellation Virgo — rises in the east at about 1 a.m. now.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 31, 2016

Next, in the hand of the Virgin, the pointed Ear of Wheat— Spica of the Romans— Not far from the Autumn Equinox.

From How Girls Can Help Their Country by Low, Juliette Gordon