"S" Word Origins

spray

Proto-Germanic

From Middle Dutch sprayen ("to spray, sprinkle, spread"), ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning to sprinkle.

sprayer

Origin

From spray + -er.

spraying

Origin

Formed from spray plus the "-ing" suffix.

spread

Old English

From Old English sprædan ("to spread, expand"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning to strew or scatter.

spreader

Origin

From spread plus the agent suffix "-er".

spreading

Origin

By surface analysis, spread + -ing.

spreadly

Origin

From spread (adjective) + -ly.

spreadsheet

Origin

A compound of spread and sheet, from the older paper ledger sheets used for financial records.

spree

French

Origin uncertain; possibly linked to the French word "esprit" (lively wit) or to older words meaning cattle raid or plunder.

sprightly

Origin

From spright + -ly (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘behaving like, having the nature of’). Spright is an obsolete variant of sprite (“a shade, spirit; elf, fairy, goblin; apparition, ghost”), from Middle English sprit (“principle of life; soul, especially at the point of death; immaterial being (angel, demon, apparition, ghost, etc.); divine inspiration; Holy Spirit; the mind, intellect, reason; mental faculties, senses; power of prophecy; character, disposition; courage, resolution; mood, state of mind; human will; breath; (alchemy) volatile substance”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman esprite, esprit and Middle French esprit, variants of Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Old French espirit, esperit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“air; breath; breathing; ghost, spirit”), from spīrō (“to breathe; to breathe out, exhale”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow; to breathe”)) + -tus (“suffix forming verbal nouns from verbs”).

spring

Old English

From Old English spring ("wellspring") and spryng ("a jump"), both from Proto-Germanic roots; the season sense developed later from the idea of new growth "springing" up.

springald

Origin

Apparently from spring, with an uncertain final element.

springboard

Origin

A compound of spring and board.

springbok

Origin

Borrowed from Afrikaans springbok, from Dutch springbok, from springen (“to jump, spring”) + bok (“buck, billy goat, antelope”).

springe

Origin

Inherited from Middle English spreng, a variant of spring with the form of sprengen.

Springer

Origin

From the verb spring plus the agent suffix -er.

Springfield

Origin

From spring + field.

springhaas

Origin

From Afrikaans springhaas.

springtime

Origin

A compound of spring and time.

springy

Origin

From spring + -y.

sprinkle

Middle English

From Middle English sprenkelen, borrowed from Middle Dutch sprenkelen, built on sprink plus a frequentative suffix.

sprinkler

Origin

From sprinkle plus the agent suffix "-er".

sprint

Old Norse

From earlier "sprent" ("to leap, dart"), from Old Norse, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to twitch or jump.

sprinter

Origin

From sprint plus the agent suffix "-er".

sprite

Latin · 1970

From Old French esprit ("spirit"), from Latin spiritus — a doublet of "spirit". The computer-graphics sense was coined at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.

spritz

German

From German spritzen, related to Yiddish shprits — the same root behind "spritzer".

spritzer

German

From German Spritzer ("splash, spatter"), built on spritz plus the agent suffix "-er".

sprocket

Italian · 1500

Origin uncertain; first recorded in the 1500s, possibly linked to Italian words for "spool" or "spur", or to English "spoke" and "spike".

sprog

Origin

1940s, originally service slang. Perhaps from obsolete sprag (“lively young man”), of unknown origin.

sprout

Middle English

From Middle English sprouten, related to Middle Dutch and Middle Low German words for sprouting, tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to sprout."

spruce

Middle English

Originally a name for Prussia in Middle English; the tree was thought to come from there, and "spruce leather" from the same region gave neat-looking jerkins their name, which is how the word came to mean "smart and tidy."

spruik

Origin

Unknown, likely Germanic. Compare Dutch spraak (“speech”), spreek (“speak”), spreuk (“saying”), sprook (“a story, fiction, tale, or false idea”). First recorded in the late 1890s and early 1900s, suggesting a possible derivation from Afrikaans (i.e. brought back by soldiers returning from the Boer War). With the exception of a few early uses of sprook, the word's spelling has been fixed since it first entered the language. The uncommon ⟨ui⟩ digraph provides further evidence for an Afrikaans or Dutch origin.

spruiker

Origin

From spruik + -er (“suffix generating agent noun”).

sprunt

Origin

Apparently a variation of sprent or sprint. This term originated as a Victorian-era Scots word in the Roxburgh region.

spry

Old Norse

From British dialect, ultimately from Old Norse sprækr meaning "nimble" or "lively", related to the word "spark."

spud

Middle English

From a Middle English word for a small knife, probably related to Scandinavian words for a spear or spike; the potato sense may have started in Australian or New Zealand slang.

Spuds

Origin

Blend of Spurs + spud.

spumante

Origin

Borrowed from Italian spumante.

spume

Origin

From Middle English spume, from Old French espume, from Latin spūma.

spumescent

Origin

From Latin spumescens, p.pr. of spumescere (“to grow foamy”).

spunk

Origin · 1500

From a 1500s blend of "spark" and an old word "funk" meaning spark or tinder.

spur

Old English

From Old English spora, spura, going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to kick."

spurious

Late Latin

From Late Latin spurius, meaning "illegitimate" or "false."

spurn

Latin

From Old English spurnan, meaning "to kick" or "strike against"; related to Latin spernere, "to scorn."

spurt

Old English

From an earlier form "sprit", from Old English spryttan, related to sprouting and sprinkling.

sputnik

Russian

From Russian спутник (sputnik), literally "fellow traveller" or "satellite", from a root meaning "way" or "path."

sputter

Origin

Probably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle English sputen (“to spout, vomit”), equivalent to spout + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian spüttern (“to inject, spray, splash”), West Frisian sputterje (“to sputter”), Dutch sputteren (“to sputter”), Low German sputtern, spruttern (“to sprinkle”), German sprudeln (“to spout, squirt”). Compare splutter.

sputum

Latin

From Latin 'sputum', the past participle of 'spuere' meaning 'to spit'.