σπάθη

From Proto-Hellenic *spátʰā, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂-dʰh₁-éh₂, from *(s)peh₂- (“to draw”) (compare σπάω (spáō)) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do; put”) + feminine ending *-eh₂. Cognate with Proto-Germanic *spadô, Hittite 𒅖𒉺𒀀𒋻 (išpatar, “spear”).

σπᾰ́θη • (spáthē) f (genitive σπᾰ́θης); first declension

1. any broad blade, of wood or metal
   1. a flat wooden blade used by ancient weavers in their upright loom for striking the woof home
   2. a spaddle or spattle used for stirring, especially for medical purposes
   3. the paddle or blade of an oar

      Synonym: πλάτη (plátē)

   4. the broad ribs
   5. the shoulder blade
   6. the broad blade of a sword
   7. a scraper for currying horses
   8. the stem of a palm-frond
   9. the spathe of the flower of many plants, especially palms

• Greek: σπαθί (spathí)
  • → Bulgarian: спатия (spatija)
• → Latin: spatha (see there for further descendants)

• “σπάθη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “σπάθη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• σπάθη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • blade idem, page 81.
  • comb idem, page 144.
  • shuttle idem, page 772.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “σπάθη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1374