splice

English

A splice in rope or cable

Etymology

Circa 1525, borrowed from Middle Dutch splissen (Modern Dutch splitsen); akin to Middle Dutch splitten (“to split”), German spleißen (“to split, splice”), Spliss (“split ends, hair breakage”), French épisser (also from Dutch). The Dutch word originally referred only to the fraying of the ropes' ends but was then also used for the entire process of fraying and retying; hence the peculiar semantic development from “split” to “join”. The same development occurred in German.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /splaɪs/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪs

Noun

splice (plural splices)

1. (nautical) A junction or joining of ropes made by splicing them together.
2. (electrical) The electrical and mechanical connection between two pieces of wire or cable.
3. (cricket) That part of a bat where the handle joins the blade.

   If the ball hits the splice, it is likely to dolly up for an easy catch.

4. Bonding or joining of overlapping materials.
5. (genetics) The process of removing intron sequences from the pre-messenger RNA, and then joining together exons.

Derived terms

• bent on a splice
• comma splice
• cunt splice
• cut splice
• eye splice
• lineman splice
• lineman's splice
• mechanical splice
• pig-tail splice
• rat-tail splice
• splice edit
• splice form
• splice grafting
• splice tape
• splice variant
• T-splice
• twist splice
• Western Union splice

 

Translations

junction or joining of ropes

• Bashkir: ялғау (yalğaw)
• Bulgarian: снадка (bg) f (snadka), сплитане (bg) n (splitane)
• Catalan: enllaç (ca) m
• Czech: spoj (cs) m
• Finnish: pujos, pleissi (fi)
• French: épissure (fr) f
• German: Verbindung (de) f
• Macedonian: пре́плет m (préplet)
• Maori: rangitāmiro
• Norman: êpisseuse f (Jersey)
• Norwegian: spleis m
• Ottoman Turkish: دیكیش (dikiş)
• Russian: сращивание (ru) n (sraščivanije), сплесень (ru) m (splesenʹ) (nautical), свя́зывание (ru) (svjázyvanije)
• Swedish: splits (sv) c
• Turkish: ek yeri

electrical and mechanical connection between wires

• Bashkir: ялғау (yalğaw)
• Bulgarian: свързване (bg) n (svǎrzvane)
• Catalan: enllaç (ca) m
• Czech: spoj (cs) m, propojení n, spojení (cs) n
• Spanish: empalme (es) m
• Swedish: förbindning c, fog (sv) c, kontakt (sv) c

part of a cricket bat

Verb

splice (third-person singular simple present splices, present participle splicing, simple past and past participle spliced)

1. To unite, as two ropes, or parts of a rope, by a particular manner of interweaving the strands, the union being between two ends, or between an end and the body of a rope.
2. To unite, as spars, timbers, rails, etc., by lapping the two ends together, or by applying a piece which laps upon the two ends, and then binding, or in any way making fast.
3. (slang) To unite in marriage.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 3”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     But come, it's getting dreadful late, you had better be turning flukes--it's a nice bed; Sal and me slept in that ere bed the night we were spliced.

4. (figuratively) To unite as if splicing.

   He argues against attempts to splice different genres or species of literature into a single composition.

5. (genetics) To remove intron sequences from the pre-messenger RNA, and then join together exons.
6. (software engineering) To add, remove and/or replace several array/data elements in one operation.

Related terms

• splice the mainbrace

Translations

to unite ropes by interweaving the strands

• Bashkir: ялғау (yalğaw)
• Bulgarian: снаждам (bg) (snaždam), сплитам (bg) (splitam)
• Catalan: empalmar (ca), entollar (ca)
• Czech: splést pf, splétat impf
• Finnish: pujoa, pleissata (fi)
• French: épisser (fr)
• German: spleißen (de)
• Macedonian: преплетува (prepletuva)
• Maori: rangitāmiro, uhono
• Norwegian: spleise (no)
• Spanish: empalmar (es), ayustar (es)
• Swedish: splitsa (sv)

to unite by lapping two ends together

• Bashkir: ялғау (yalğaw)
• Bulgarian: съединявам със застъпване (sǎedinjavam sǎs zastǎpvane)
• Catalan: empalmar (ca)
• Czech: spojit (cs) pf, spojovat (cs) impf
• Finnish: liittää (fi)
• Maori: uhono
• Portuguese: emendar (pt)
• Spanish: empalmar (es), ayustar (es)
• Swedish: foga (sv), sammanfoga (sv)

to unite in marriage — see marry

to unite as if splicing

• Bashkir: ялғау (yalğaw)
• Czech: propojit pf, propojovat impf
• Finnish: liittää (fi)
• Macedonian: препле́тува (preplétuva)
• Portuguese: misturar (pt)
• Swedish: förbinda (sv), sammanfoga (sv), förena (sv)

genetics

• Catalan: empalmar (ca)
• French: épisser (fr)
• Spanish: empalmar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Norman: ^{(please verify)} êpissi (Jersey)