spica
a type of bandage in the shape of a figure eight, extending from an extremity to the trunk.
Spica, Astronomy. a first-magnitude star in the constellation Virgo.
Origin of spica
1Words Nearby spica
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use spica in a sentence
How much brighter is an ordinary first-magnitude star, such as Aldebaran or spica, than a star just visible to the naked eye?
A Text-Book of Astronomy | George C. ComstockThe specific name, spicant, is from the Latin spica, “a point.”
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard BastinIn the southeast you will recognize the quadrilateral of Corvus, with the remarkably white star spica glittering east of it.
Astronomy with an Opera-glass | Garrett Putman ServissThe figure-of-eight bandage is used on various parts, and is illustrated in the bandage called spica of the groin, Fig.
The faint star which our larger apertures show about 6' northeast of spica is of the tenth magnitude.
Pleasures of the telescope | Garrett Serviss
British Dictionary definitions for spica (1 of 2)
/ (ˈspaɪkə) /
med a spiral bandage formed by a series of overlapping figure-of-eight turns
botany another word for spike 2 (def. 1)
Origin of spica
1British Dictionary definitions for Spica (2 of 2)
/ (ˈspiːkə) /
the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Distance: 260 light years
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for Spica
[ spī′kə ]
A bright bluish-white binary star in the constellation Virgo, with an apparent magnitude of 0.96. Scientific name: Alpha Virginis.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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