spina

[ spahy-nuh ]

noun

, Anatomy, Zoology.

, plural spi·nae [spahy, -nee].

1. a spine or spinelike projection.

Word History and Origins

Origin of spina¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin spīna thorn, backbone; spine

Example Sentences

Fetuses with spina bifida, whose spines don’t develop properly, might undergo surgery before birth at one of a small number of specialized surgical centers, for example.

From MIT Technology Review

The course was divided down the centre by a low wall, called the spina, which was adorned with various sculptures.

From Project Gutenberg

At the age of twenty-two, Ancilla turned a dancer and Spina became a singer.

From Project Gutenberg

Along the transverse axis ran a fence (spina) separating the return course from the starting one.

From Project Gutenberg

The sentence is very obscure, but the allusion must be to the dolphins, the figures of which were placed upon the spina.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems that in a corresponding place near the other end of the spina figures of dolphins were used for the same purpose.

From Project Gutenberg