Origin: Latin suffix -al
Spinal has 5 different meanings across 2 categories:
anesthesia of the lower half of the body; caused by injury to the spinal cord or by injecting an anesthetic beneath the arachnoid membrane that surrounds the spinal cord
"The patient recovered quickly after undergoing a spinal procedure to numb the lower half of her body for surgery."
A spinal anesthesia.
"The doctor administered a spinal anesthesia to numb my lower back before the surgery."
Of or relating to the spine.
"The doctor examined his spinal injuries after he fell off his bike."
Of or pertaining to the spinal cord.
"The doctor performed an MRI to examine the damage caused by a traumatic injury to his spinal cord."
In plain English: Spinal means relating to your spine, which is the long column of bones that runs down your back and protects your spinal cord.
"The spinal cord controls many automatic functions in your body."
The word spinal comes from Late Latin spinalis, which originally meant "of or belonging to a spine." It entered English through the influence of the modern word spine and its common adjective-forming suffix -al.