sprit (n.)

Middle English sprete, from Old English spreot "pole, pike, spear," originally "a sprout, shoot, branch of a tree," from Proto-Germanic *sprut- (see sprout (v.)). It is cognate with Middle Dutch spriet, Middle Low German spryet, German Spriet, North Frisian sprit. The only surviving sense is the restricted nautical one of "diagonal spar from a mast used to extend and elevate a sail" is attested from 14c. Related: Spritsail "sail extended by a sprit" (mid-15c.). Also compare bowsprit.

Entries linking to sprit

bowsprit (n.)

"large spar projecting forward from the bow of a ship," late 13c., probably from Middle Low German bochspret, from boch "bow of a ship" (see bow (n.2)) + spret "pole" (compare Old English spreot "pole," Dutch spriet "spear;" see sprit). The variation in early forms (including boltsprit, bolesprit, boresprit) suggests a non-native word. French beaupre is a Dutch loan word.

sprout (v.)

Middle English sprouten, "to spring forth; grow, shoot forth as a bud," from Old English -sprutan (in asprutan "to sprout"), from Proto-Germanic *sprut- (source also of Old Saxon sprutan, Old Frisian spruta, Middle Dutch spruten, Old High German spriozan, German sprießen "to sprout").

According to Watkins this is from PIE *spreud-, extended form of root *sper- "to strew" (perhaps also the source of Old English spreawlian "to sprawl," sprædan "to spread," spreot "pole;" Armenian sprem "scatter;" Old Lithuanian sprainas "staring, opening wide one's eyes;" Lettish spriežu "I span, I measure").

The transitive sense of "produce by sprouting" is from c. 1600. Related: Sprouted; sprouting.

Trends of sprit

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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sprite

c. 1300, sprit, formerly also spright, a doublet of spirit (n.) in any of its then-current senses, from Old French esprit...

coven

Ther is threttein persones in ilk Coeven; and ilk on of vs has an Sprit to wait wpon ws, quhan ve pleas to call wpon him....

rasp

mid-13c., raspen, "to scrape, abrade by rubbing with a coarsely rough instrument or something like one," from Middle Dutch raspen and from Old French rasper (Modern French râper) "to grate, rasp," which is ultimately from a West Germanic source (compare Old English gehrespan, Old

spar

early 14c., sparre, "common rafter of a roof;" late 14c., "stout, long pole," from or cognate with Middle Low German or Middle Dutch sparre, from Proto-Germanic *sparron (source also of Old English *spere "spear, lance," in place-names; Old Norse sperra "rafter, beam," German Spa

poignant

late 14c., poinaunt, "painful to physical or mental feeling" (of sauce, spice, wine as well as things that affect the feelings), from Old French poignant "sharp, pointed" (13c.), present participle of poindre "to prick, sting," from Latin pungere "to prick, pierce, sting," figura

iron

Middle English iron, iren, yron, from Old English iren, variant (with rhotacism of -s-) of isen, later form of isern, isærn "the metal iron; an iron weapon or instrument," from Proto-Germanic *isarn (source also of Old Saxon isarn, Old Frisian isern, Old Norse isarn, Middle Dutch

Prometheus

in Greek mythology, a demigod (son of the Titan Iapetus) who made man from clay and stole fire from heaven and taught mankind its use, for which he was punished by Zeus by being chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where a vulture came every day and preyed on his liver. The name is

brother

"male person in his relation to another person or other persons of either sex born of the same parents," Old English broþor, from Proto-Germanic *brothar (source also of Old Norse broðir, Danish broder, Old Frisian brother, Dutch broeder, Old High German bruodar, German Bruder, G

tank

1610s, "pool or lake for irrigation or drinking water," a word originally brought by the Portuguese from India, from a Hindi source, such as Gujarati tankh "cistern, underground reservoir for water," Marathi tanken, or tanka "reservoir of water, tank." Perhaps it is ultimately fr

argument

early 14c., "statements and reasoning in support of a proposition or causing belief in a doubtful matter," from Old French arguement "reasoning, opinion; accusation, charge" (13c.), from Latin argumentum "a logical argument; evidence, ground, support, proof," from arguere "make c

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updated on June 01, 2023

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Dictionary entries near sprit

sprinkle

sprinkler

sprinkling

sprint

sprinter

sprit

sprite

spritz

sprocket

sprout

spruce