Spica autem, quam rustici, ut acceperunt antiquitus, vocant specam, a spe videtur nominata; eam enim quod sperant fore, serunt.
The ear, however, which the peasants, in their old-fashioned way, call speca, seems to have got its name from spes; for it is because they hope (sperant) to have this grow that they plant.
final_alignments\Varro_Agriculture_Book1.json