spineyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[spine 词源字典]
spine: [14] Spine comes via Old French espine from Latin spīna ‘thorn’, which was probably derived from the same base as spīca ‘ear of corn’ (source of English spike ‘pointed flower head’). The metaphorical extension ‘backbone’ developed in Latin, perhaps via ‘prickle’ and ‘fish bone’. A spinney [16] is etymologically a ‘thorny thicket’. The word comes via Old French espinei from Vulgar Latin *spīnēta, an alteration of Latin spīnētum ‘thorny hedge’, which was derived from spīna.
=> spike, spinney[spine etymology, spine origin, 英语词源]
spine (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1400, "backbone," later "thornlike part" (early 15c.), from Old French espine "thorn, prickle; backbone, spine" (12c., Modern French épine), from Latin spina "backbone," originally "thorn, prickle" (figuratively, in plural, "difficulties, perplexities"), from PIE *spe-ina-, from root *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). Meaning "the back of a book" is first attested 1922.