LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

spolium

spolium n (genitive spoliī or spolī)

Meaning

  1. neuterthe skin or hide of an animal stripped off
  2. neuterthe arms or armor stripped from a defeated enemy
  3. neuterbooty, prey, spoil
    Melius est humiliārī cum mītibus, quam dīvidere spolia cum superbīs. It is better to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils with the proud. (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.: 1752 CE)c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Proverbs.16.19

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativespoliumspolia
genitivespoliī
spolī		spoliōrum
dativespoliōspoliīs
accusativespoliumspolia
ablativespoliōspoliīs
vocativespoliumspolia

spŏlĭum, ii, n. root spal- (skal-); cf.: populor, calamitas, calvus.
I. Lit., the spoil of an animal, i. e. the skin or hide of an animal stripped off (so only poet. and very rare): pelles et spolia ferarum, Lucr. 5, 954: serpentum, id. 4, 62: leonis, Ov. M. 9, 113; 3, 81: apri, id. ib. 8, 426; id. H. 4, 100: pecudis (i. e. arietis Phrixei), id. ib. 6, 13; cf. id. M. 7, 156: viperei monstri (i. e. Medusae), id. ib. 4, 615.—
II. Transf., the arms or armor stripped from a defeated enemy; hence, in gen., any thing taken from the enemy, booty, prey, spoil (the predom. signif. of the word; usu. in plur.; cf.: exuviae, praeda): Salmacida spolia sine sudore et sanguine, Enn. ap. Cic. Off. 1, 18, 61 (Trag. v. 36 Vahl.): spolia ducis hostium caesi suspenso ferculo gerens in Capitolium ascendit ibique, Juppiter Feretri, inquit, haec tibi victor Romulus rex regia arma fero templumque dedico, sedem opimis spoliis, etc., Liv. 1, 10, 6 (v. opimus): spoliis decorata est regia fixis, Ov. M. 8, 154: spoliorum causā hominem occidere ... cruenta spolia detrahere, Cic. Rosc. Am. 50, 145 sq.: multa spolia praeferebantur, Caes. B. C. 2, 39: ad ejus spolia detrahenda, Cic. Sest. 24, 54: indutus spoliis, Verg. A. 10, 775: victores praedā Rutuli spoliisque potiti, id. ib. 9, 450; 4, 93: virtutis honor spoliis quaeratur in istis, Ov. M. 13, 153: insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis Ingreditur, Verg. A. 6, 855: spolia jacentis hostium exercitus peditibus concessit, Liv. 44, 45: Q. Fabius spolia ducis Gallorum legens, id. 5, 36; so, legere, id. 5, 39; 8, 7; 27, 2 al.: spolia et praedas ad procuratores referre, Tac. A. 12, 54 et saep.: (forum) exuviis nauticis et classium spoliis (i. e. rostris) ornatum, Cic. Imp. Pomp. 18, 55; cf. Flor. 1, 11, 10: navalia, Suet. Aug. 18 fin.: illud natura non patitur, ut aliorum spoliis nostras facultates, copias, opes augeamus, Cic. Off. 3, 5, 22; id. Rosc. Am. 3, 8: spoliis civium exstructa domus, Tac. A. 15, 52: (delatores) sacerdotia et consulatus et spolia adepti, id. H. 1, 2.—
(b). Sing.: quo nunc Turnus ovat spolio, Verg. A. 10, 500: Actoris Aurunci spolium, id. ib. 12, 94: Asiam, spolium regis Antiochi, recepi, Sall. H. 4, 61, 11 Dietsch; Suet. Caes. 64; Just. 19, 3: fert secum spolium sceleris, Ov. M. 8, 87: mendici spolium, a beggar's rags, Petr. 13, 1.—Poet., in gen., = arma, arms, Ov. M. 13, 153.

Origins

Referred to Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel-. Cognate with Ancient Greek σπολάς (spolás, “leathern garment”) and ἄσπαλον (áspalon, “skin, hide”), German spalten (“to split, cleave”), Sanskrit स्फाटयति (sphāṭayati, “to cause to split”) and स्फटति (spháṭati, “to burst, expand”). See also English spill.

Elsewhere
  • Portugueseesbulho
  • Catalanespoli
  • Portugueseespólio
  • Spanishespolio
  • Englishspoil
  • Romanianspolie
  • Aromanianspolji
Italo-Romance
  • Italianspoglio
  • Italianspoglia
  • Italianscoglio
  • Italianscoglia

In English words that came into English from spolium

  • spoilspoliō
  • spoliationspoliātiō
  • despoildēspoliō
  • spoliumspolium
  • spoliatespoliātus

Quick answers

What does spolium mean in Latin?
spolium, a noun, means “the skin or hide of an animal stripped off; the arms or armor stripped from a defeated enemy; booty, prey, spoil”.
What is the genitive of spolium?
The genitive singular is spoliī. spolium is neuter, second declension.
Which English words come from spolium?
English words that go back to Latin spolium include spolium, spoil, spoliation, spoliate and despoil.