calamistrum

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin calamistrum (“a curling-iron”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kæləˈmɪstɹəm/

Noun

calamistrum (plural calamistra)

  1. (zoology) A comb-like structure on the metatarsus of the hind legs of certain spiders (Ciniflonidae), used to curl certain fibres in the construction of their webs.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “calamistrum”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Apparently from Ancient Greek καλάμιστρος (kalámistros, “stipula”), from κάλαμος (kálamos, “reed”), referring to the tubular shape of the heated curling irons. Perhaps influenced by Latin instrumental suffix -trum.

Pronunciation

Noun

calamistrum n (genitive calamistrī); second declension

  1. curling iron, curling tongs
  2. excessively ornamented words

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative calamistrum calamistra
Genitive calamistrī calamistrōrum
Dative calamistrō calamistrīs
Accusative calamistrum calamistra
Ablative calamistrō calamistrīs
Vocative calamistrum calamistra

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Portuguese: calamistro

References
  • calamistrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • “calamistrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “calamistrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
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