spadix

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.

See also

• Araceae
• spathe

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek σπᾱ́δῑξ (spā́dīx).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

spādīx m (genitive spādīcis); third declension

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

Adjective

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

1. chestnut-colored, chestnut (of a horse)
2. strong brown

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.

Noun

spadix n (plural spadice)

1. alternative form of spadice