σπεῖρα, ἡ,
anything twisted or wound, ποιεῖν τι οἷον σπεῖραν twist it into a ball, [[ 5th c.BC: Hippocrates Medicus “περὶ νούσων” 2.33. ] Refs 5th c.BC+]
__2 plural, coils or spires of a serpent, [[ 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Fragmenta” 535 (_anapaest meter_), 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Fragmenta” 500 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; πολύπλοκοι σ. [[ 5th c.BC: Euripides Tragicus “Medea” 481, compare “Ion” 1164 ] Refs 5th c.BC+]: so in singular, [[ 2nd c.BC: Nicander Epicus “Theriaca” 156, 3rd c.BC: Apollonius Rhodius Epicus 4.151, 4th-3rd c.BC: Aratus Epicus 47, 89, etc. ] Refs 4th c.BC+]
__3 rope, cord, [[ 2nd c.BC: Nicander Epicus “fragment” 74.21, _falsa lectio_ in 5th c.BC: Hippocrates Medicus “Steril.” 235] Refs 5th c.BC+]; σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις with the net's meshy folds, [[ 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Antigone” 346 (Lyric poetry)] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ship's cable, [[ 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus 2.507b] Refs 1st c.AD+]; padded circle used by women carrying weights on their head, [[ 6th c.AD: Aëtius Medicus 12.55 ] Refs 6th c.AD+]; so by Atlas, [[ 2nd c.AD: Apollodorus Damascenus Mechanicus 2.5.11 ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]; as a lamp-stand, ἀρτεμισίας σ. ἐπὶ τὸν λύχνον [[ “PMag.Lond.” 121.601 (compare σπειρίον 111)] Refs]; round cushion, [[ Inscriptiones Graecae 5(1).1390.24 (Andania, 1st c.BC). ] Refs 1st c.BC+]
__4 a mode of dressing the hair, [[ 2nd c.AD(?): Pollianus Epigrammaticus 2.31, 4.149. ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]
__5 σ. βόειαι thongs or straps of ox-hide to guard and arm a boxer's fist, [[ 3rd c.BC: Theocritus Poeta Bucolicus 22.80. ] Refs 3rd c.BC+]