Spinous
/ˈspaɪnəs/noun
Having a spine or sharp-pointed spines; thorny or spiky.
Did you know?Spinous comes from the same Latin root as spine, and that root also gave English words for the backbone and for sharp, thorn-like projections in anatomy and botany.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*spei-
“to prick, pierce, or be sharp”
Latin
Latin
spina
“thorn, spine, backbone”
Late Latin
Latin
spinosus
“full of thorns; thorny”
Middle English
English
spinous
“thorny; spiny”
Modern English
English
spinous
“having spines or sharp projections”