English

A plastic kitchen spatula for turning and lifting

Spatula for scraping

Noun

spatula ‎(plural spatulas or spatulae or spatulæ)

1. A kitchen utensil consisting of a flat surface attached to a long handle, used for turning, lifting, or stirring food.
2. (Canada, US) A kitchen utensil consisting of a flexible surface attached to a long handle, used for scraping the sides of bowls.
3. (dated) A palette knife.
4. (chemistry) A thin hand tool, often made of nickel, for handling chemicals or other materials, when weighing, etc.
5. A croupier's tool for turning up cards in a casino.
   • 1963, Ian Fleming, On Her Majesty's Secret Service

     The croupier delicately faced her other two cards with the tip of his spatula. A four! She had lost!

Synonyms

• (kitchen utensil for turning and lifting): fish slice, turner
• (kitchen utensil for scraping): scraper, dough scraper

Derived terms

Related terms

• spatulate

Translations

Latin

Alternative forms

• spathula

Etymology

Diminutive from spatha ‎(“broad, flat tool”) +‎ -ula.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈspa.tu.la/

Noun

spatula f ‎(genitive spatulae); first declension

1. a broad, flat piece.

   spatula porcina — "leg of pork".

2. a little palm frond.
3. (Late Latin) a scapula (shoulder blade).
4. (Late Latin) a spoon or spatula (kitchenware).

Inflection

First declension.

Derived terms

• spatulātus, spathulātus

Related terms

• spatha

Descendants

References

• spatula in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• SPATULA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “spatula”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.