Quick Definition
σπεῖρα, ης, ἡ n.f. a cohort
Strong's Definition
a coil (spira, "spire"), i.e. (figuratively) a mass of men (a Roman military cohort; also (by analogy) a squad of Levitical janitors)
Derivation: of immediate Latin origin, but ultimately a derivative of G138 (αἱρέομαι) in the sense of its cognate G1507 (εἱλίσσω);
KJV Usage: band
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
σπεῖρα (on the accent cf. B. 11; Chandler § 161; Ταῦ Proleg. p.102], ἡ, gen. -ys (Acts x. 1; xxi. 31; xxvii. 1; see [Tdf. Proleg. p. 117; WH. App. p. 156; and] paχαιρα, init.), [ecogn. w. σπυρίς (4. v-) J; a. Lat. spira; anything rolled into a circle or ball; anything wound, rolled up, folded together. b. α military cohort (Polyb. 11, 23, 1 τρεῖς σπείρας" τοῦτο δὲ καλεῖται τὸ σύνTaypa τῶν πεζῶν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις Kodptis), i. 6. the tenth part of a legion [i. 6. about 600 men (i. e. legionaries), or if auxiliaries either 500 or 1000; cf. Marquardt, Romisch. Alterth. IIL ii. p. 371. But surely τοῦτο τὸ σύνταγμα in the quotation comprehends the τρεῖς ow.; hence Polyb. here makes a oz. equal to a maniple, cf. 2, 3,2; 6, 24,5; ef. Zonaras, Lex. p. 1664, o7.+ σύνταγμα διακοσίων ἀνδρῶν. On the other hand, “the later Grk. writ. almost uniformly employ oz. as the representative of cohors” (Smith, Dict. of Antiq., ed. 2, 5. v. exercitus, p. 500); and the use of χιλίαρχος (which was the equiv. of tribunus, the commander of a cohort) in connection with it (Jn. xviii. 12; Acts xxi. 31), together with the uniform rendering of the word by cofors in the Lat. versions, warrants the marg. “cohort ” uniformly added in ΝΟΥ͂. to the rendering band]: Mt. xxvii. 27; Mk. xv. 16; Acts x.1; xxi. 31; xxvii. 1, and often in Josephus; α maniple, or the thirtieth part of a legion, often so in Polyb. [(see above) ]; any band, company, or detachment, of soldiers (2 Macc. viii. 23; Jud. xiv. 11): Jn. xviii. 3, 12.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
σπεῖρα speira 7x
anything twisted or wreathed, a cord, coil, band, etc.; a band of soldiers, company, troop; used for a Roman cohort, about 600 soldiers, Mt. 27:27; Acts 10:1; the temple guard, Mk. 15:16; Jn. 18:3, 12; Acts 21:31; 27:1*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** σπείρα, -ης
(on this form of gen., v. M, Pr., 38, 48; Bl., § 7, 1; Mayser, 12; Deiss., BS, 186), [in LXX: Jth 14:11, II Mac 8:23 12:20, 22 * ;]
(= Lat. spira) anything or rolled up, a coil.
As a military term used (by Polyb. and later writers) of a body of soldiers, a maniple (third part of a cohort) or cohort (v. Swete, Mk., 375; Westc., Jo., 251 f.): Mt 27:27, Mk 15:16, Jo 18:3, 12, Ac 10:1 21:31 27:1.†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
σπεῖρα, gen. σπείρης (as in the NT and apparently always in the papyri: see Pro/eg. pp. 38, 48). The word meant originally “a coil,” but came to be applied to a ‘‘maniple” or “cohort”? of soldiers. For this, its only meaning in the NT, cf. P Oxy III. 4773 (a.p. 132-3) γενομένῳ ἐπάρχῳ σπείρης πρώτης Δαμασ[κ]ηνῶν, “late praefect of the first cohort of the Damascenes,” and similarly BGU I. 73? (A.D. 135), 13622 (A.D. 135), α΄ See also PSI V. 447%? (A.D. 167) ot ὑπογεγρα(μμένοι) στρατευσάμενοι ἐν εἴλαις. καὶ σπείραις. In P Lond 755 verso® (iv/A.D.) (ΞΞ ΠΠ. p. 223), a list of buildings with measurements, σπί(ε)ῖραι = ‘base mouldings.” In the inscrr. the word is used for θίασος : see Deissmann BS p. 186.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
σπεῖρα (speira) — band. σπεῖρα, ἡ, anything twisted or wound, ποιεῖν τι οἷον σπεῖραν twist it into a ball, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. plural, coils or spires of a serpent, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πολύπλοκοι σ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]: so in singular, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
3. rope, cord, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις with the net's meshy folds, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ship's cable, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; padded circle used by women carrying weights on their head, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; so by Atlas, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; as a lamp-stand, ἀρτεμισίας σ. ἐπὶ τὸν λύχνον [Refs]; round cushion, [Refs 1st c.BC+]
4. a mode of dressing the hair, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
5. σ. βόειαι thongs or straps of ox-hide to guard and arm a boxer's fist, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
6. knot or curl in wood, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
7. a kind of cheesecake[Refs 2nd c.AD+]
8. rounded moulding in the base of an Ionic or Corinthian column, torus, [Refs 1st c.BC+]
9. Geometry texts, anchor-ring, tore, produced by revolution of a circle about a line in its plane but not passing through the centre, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
II. Milit., tactical unit, in the Ptolemaic army, [Refs 1st c.BC+]; used to translate the Roman manipulus, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; κατὰ σπείρας,= Latin manipulatim, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; later, cohort, [NT+1st c.AD+]
II.2. ={θίασος}, religious college or guild, genitive σπείρης [Refs]; Latin spira, [Refs]