spadix

Via Latin spādīx from Ancient Greek σπᾱ́δῑξ (spā́dīx, “palm branch”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈspeɪdɪks/

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, p. 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.

• spadiceous

• Araceae
• spathe

Borrowed from Ancient Greek σπᾱ́δῑξ (spā́dīx).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈspaː.diːks/, [ˈs̠päːd̪iːks̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈspa.diks/, [ˈspäːd̪iks]

spādīx m (genitive spādīcis); third declension

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

Third-declension noun.

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

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

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

• “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

spadix n (plural spadice)

1. Alternative form of spadice