spine

Definitions

From Latin spīna 'thorn.' The backbone got this name because its row of bony points (the spinous processes) looks like a line of thorns down the back. From that one picture — a ridge of points that holds something upright — spine spread to mean a plant's thorn, the stiff edge of a book (which holds the pages up), and a person's courage (the inner backbone to stand firm).

Why It Means This

One concrete image drives all four senses: a ridge of points that keeps things standing. Anatomists literally call the bumps on the backbone 'spinous processes' — little thorns. From the backbone, English spun two metaphors: the spine of a book holds the pages upright the way your backbone holds you upright, and 'having spine' means having the inner backbone to stand firm under pressure ('it takes spine to say no'). The plant sense stays closest to the Latin original — a rose's spine is just a thorn.

Common Collocations

• 1.spinal injury脊椎损伤
• 2.send a chill down one's spine令人脊背发凉
• 3.the spine of a book书脊
• 4.a backbone of steel / spine of steel钢铁般的脊梁／意志
• 5.lacking spine缺乏骨气

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She injured her spine in a skiing accident last winter.

• 2.

  Be careful — the spines on this cactus are razor-sharp.

• 3.

  I could read the book's title printed along the spine.

• 4.

  It takes real spine to stand up to your own boss.

• 5.

  A sudden chill ran down my spine when the lights went out.

Easily Confused

spine vs backbone — Both name the column of vertebrae and both can mean 'courage.' spine is the standard anatomical and book-publishing term (spinal cord, the spine of a novel); backbone is slightly more colloquial for the courage sense ('he has no backbone') and is the usual word in the figurative 'the backbone of the organization' (its main support). You would not say 'the backbone of a book.'