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spatula (n.)

1520s (from early 15c. as a type of medical instrument), from Latin spatula "broad piece, spatula," diminutive of spatha "broad, flat tool or weapon," from Greek spathe "broad flat blade (used by weavers)" (see spade (n.1)). Erroneous form spattular is attested from c. 1600.

Entries related to spatula

spade (n.1)
"tool for digging," Old English spadu "spade," from Proto-Germanic *spadan (source also of Old Frisian spada "a spade," Middle Dutch spade "a sword," Old Saxon spado, Middle Low German spade, German Spaten), from PIE *spe-dh-, from root *spe- (2) "long, flat piece of wood" (source also of Greek spathe "wooden blade, paddle," Old English spon "chip of wood, splinter," Old Norse spann "shingle, chip;" see spoon (n.)).

"A spade differs from a two-handed shovel chiefly in the form and thickness of the blade" [Century Dictionary]. To call a spade a spade "use blunt language, call things by right names" (1540s) translates a Greek proverb (known to Lucian), ten skaphen skaphen legein "to call a bowl a bowl," but Erasmus mistook Greek skaphe "trough, bowl" for a derivative of the stem of skaptein "to dig," and the mistake has stuck [see OED].
espalier (n.)
fan-shaped trellis for ornamental or fruit trees, 1660s, from French espalier (16c.), from Italian spalliera "stake-works shoulder-high," from spalla "shoulder," from Latin spatula (see spatula).
spatulate (adj.)
1760, from Modern Latin spatulatus, from spatula (see spatula).

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Definitions of spatula from WordNet

spatula (n.)
a turner with a narrow flexible blade;
spatula (n.)
a hand tool with a thin flexible blade used to mix or spread soft substances;
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near spatula

spate

spathic

spatial

spatter

spatterdash

spatula

spatulate

spavin

spawn

spay

spaz

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