combining form of L. spīca ear of corn, SPIKE sb.1, occurring in a few words, as Spiciferous a. [L. spīcifer] (see quot.). Spiciform a., having the form of a (flower-) spike. Spicilege, ǁ Spicilegium, † Spicilegy [L. spīcilegium], a gleaning; a collection or anthology.

1

  Mayne, Expos. Lex. (1859) also gives spiciferous, -florous, -gerous as renderings of mod.L. formations.

2

1656.  Blount, Glossogr., *Spiciferous, that beareth ears of corn. [Hence in Phillips and Bailey.]

3

1836.  Penny Cycl., VI. 401/1. Verticillated either round some foreign body or under the form of *spiciform branches.

4

1870.  Hooker, Stud. Flora, 194. Heads purplish or white,… in a spiciform panicle.

5

1837.  Landor, Pentameron, ii. Wks. 1853, II. 322/2. Yet we may almost make out in quantity, and quite in quality, our *spicilege from Virgil himself.

6

1846.  G. S. Faber, Lett. Tractar. Secess., 91. I shall exhibit some specimens of the process,… a *spicilegium only.

7

1859.  Archaeol. Cant., II. 221. Which shall be, as it were, a ‘Spicilegium,’ a gathering up of fragments.

8

1656.  Blount, Glossogr., *Spicilegy, gathering ears of corn, gleaning or leising corn.

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