# spline

> English word · Noun · IPA /splaɪn/ · frequency rank #55,761

## Definitions
1. A long, thin piece of metal or wood.
2. A strip of wood or other material inserted into grooves in each of two pieces of wood to provide additional surface for gluing.
3. A flexible strip of metal or other material, that may be bent into a curve and used in a similar manner to a ruler to draw smooth curves between points.
4. Any of a number of smooth curves used to join points.
5. A ridge or tooth on a drive shaft that meshes with a corresponding groove in a mating piece and transfers torque to it, maintaining the angular correspondence between the pieces; either the ridge or the groove, as part of a set of both (splines); the whole set of ridges and grooves.
6. A rectangular piece that fits grooves like key seats in a hub and a shaft, so that while the one may slide endwise on the other, both must revolve together.

## Etymology
Mid-1700s East Anglian dialect. Origin uncertain but perhaps from Old Danish splind or North Frisian splinj and ultimately related to the root of splinter.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spline