spionia

Latin

Alternative forms

• spinea

Etymology

Unknown etymology, perhaps a Mediterranean or Aegean word. Suggested connections include Welsh ffion (“purple foxglove”).

Noun

spiōnia f (genitive spiōniae); first declension

1. a variety of grapevine, resistant to wet conditions and distinguished by its large grapes
   • 4 CE – c. 70 CE, Columella, De Re Rustica 3.2.27:

     ut spionia dapsilis musto sed amplitudine magis uvarum quam numero fertilis

     […] the spionia grape abundant in must but rich in the size rather than the number of its grapes

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	spiōnia	spiōniae
genitive	spiōniae	spiōniārum
dative	spiōniae	spiōniīs
accusative	spiōniam	spiōniās
ablative	spiōniā	spiōniīs
vocative	spiōnia	spiōniae

References

• “spionia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• spionia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.