Meanings
- Ancient RomeuncountableHerringbone masonry.
One sees in it a pediment in the Empire style on a Jesuit portico; it has rusticated galleries, colonnades like those of the Louvre, Renaissance staircases, Gothic halls, and a Roman crypt. If one were to expose the foundations, one would come upon opus spicatum and Roman cement.
1910, M. P. Willcocks, transl., chapter VI, in Frederic Chapman, editor, The Wicker Work Woman: A Chronicle of Our Own Times, translation of Le Mannequin d'osier by Anatole FranceSynonyms: spicatum
Synonyms & antonyms
nounHerringbone masonry.
Origin
- Latinopus spīcātum
- Englishopus spicatum
Borrowed from Latin opus spīcātum (literally “spiked work”), from the resemblance to the interlocking patterns of grain spikes.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
opus spicatum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opus%20spicatum
“opus spicatum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opus%20spicatum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “opus spicatum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opus%20spicatum.
Source: opus spicatum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.