spolia

See also: spolià

English

Etymology

Latin spolia (“spoils”).

Noun

spolia pl (plural only)

1. Old objects, artifacts, and/or sculptural elements reused in a later work of architecture.
   • 2010, Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, Salvatore Settis, The Classical Tradition, page 904:

     In the field of architecture the use of spolia began with Constantine.

   • 2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 305:

     The sultan did not so much destroy and rebuild as adapt and embroider, reusing the gorgeous spolia of the Crusaders with their foliate patterns, capitals and wetleaf acanthus; his architecture is thus constructed with the very symbols of his enemies, which makes it hard to distinguish between the buildings of the Crusaders and Saladin.

   • 2016, Zeynep Yürekli, Architecture and Hagiography in the Ottoman Empire, page 140:

     The conspicuous use of spolia in the Mihaloğlu buildings of the shrine of Syyid Gazi is a remarkable departure from the dominant architectural culture of the time.

Related terms

• spolia opima

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

spolia

1. third-person singular past historic of spolier

Italian

Verb

spolia

1. inflection of spoliare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• pisola, posali

Latin

Verb

spoliā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of spoliō

Noun

spolia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of spolium

References

• “spolia”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “spolia”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French spolier.

Verb

a spolia (third-person singular present spoliează, past participle spoliat) 1st conjugation

1. to despoil

Conjugation

    conjugation of spolia (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a spolia
gerund			spoliind
past participle			spoliat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	spoliez	spoliezi	spoliază	spoliem	spoliați	spoliază
	imperfect	spoliam	spoliai	spolia	spoliam	spoliați	spoliau
	simple perfect	spoliai	spoliași	spolie	spoliarăm	spoliarăți	spoliară
	pluperfect	spoliasem	spoliaseși	spoliase	spoliaserăm	spoliaserăți	spoliaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să spoliez	să spoliezi	să spolieze	să spoliem	să spoliați	să spolieze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		spoliază			spoliați
	negative		nu spolia			nu spoliați