English

flatspine

flat + spine

A compound of flat + spine

Proto-Germanic *flataz ‘flat’

Old Norse flatr ‘flat, level’

Middle English flat ‘level’

English flat

Proto-Indo-European *spey- ‘sharp point’

Proto-Italic *speinā ‘thorn’

Latin spīna ‘thorn’

Old French espine

Middle English spyne ‘a spine’

English spine

Today it means

adj Having a flat spine; used in the names of various organisms.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / flatspine