noun

1. pl. spicae -·cae (-sē)Bot. a spike, as of a flower
2. Med. a kind of bandage wrapped back and forth with spiral overlapping around parts of a joint
3. a binary star, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo: magnitude, 1.0, but it varies regularly by a magnitude of 0.1 as the fainter star eclipses its brighter companion

Etymology: L, ear of grain, orig., a point: see spike