英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

sprout (v.)[sprout 词源字典]: Old English -sprutan (in asprutan "to sprout"), from Proto-Germanic *sprut- (cognates: Old Saxon sprutan, Old Frisian spruta, Middle Dutch spruten, Old High German spriozan, German sprießen "to sprout"), from PIE *spreud-, extended form of root *sper- (4) "to strew" (cognates: Greek speirein "to scatter," spora "a scattering, sowing," sperma "sperm, seed," literally "that which is scattered;" 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"). Related: Sprouted; sprouting.[sprout etymology, sprout origin, 英语词源]
sprout (n.): "shoot of a plant, sprout; a twig," Old English sprota, from the verb (see sprout (v.)). Cognate with Middle Dutch spruyte, Dutch spruite "a sprout," Old Norse sproti, German Sproß.
spruce (n.): 1660s, "evergreen tree, fir," from spruse (adj.) "made of spruce wood" (early 15c.), literally "from Prussia," from Spruce, Sprws (late 14c.), unexplained alterations of Pruce "Prussia," from an Old French form of Prussia.

Spruce seems to have been a generic term for commodities brought to England by Hanseatic merchants (especially beer, boards and wooden chests, and leather), and the tree thus was believed to be particular to Prussia, which for a time was figurative in England as a land of luxuries. Compare spruce (adj.).

As a distinct species of evergreen tree from 1731. Nearly all pines have long, soft needles growing in groups of two (Scotch) to five (white); spruce and fir needles grow singly. Spruce needles are squarish and sharp; fir needles are short and flat. Cones of the fir stand upright; cones of a spruce hang before falling.
spruce (v.): "to make trim or neat," 1590s, from spruce (adj.). Related: Spruced; sprucing.
spruce (adj.): "neat, smart in dress and appearance, dapper, brisk," 1580s, from spruce leather (mid-15c.; see spruce (n.)), a type of leather imported from Prussia in the 1400s and 1500s which was used in England to make a popular style of jerkin that was considered smart-looking.
sprucify (v.): 1610s, from spruce (adj.) + -ify. Related: Sprucified.
sprue (n.): "piece of metal (later plastic) attached to a cast object," 1875, earlier (1849) "channel through which metal is poured into a mold;" of unknown origin.
spruik (v.): 1916, Australia and New Zealand slang, of unknown origin.
sprung: past participle of spring (v.).
spry (adj.): 1746, "active, nimble, vigorous, lively," dialectal, perhaps a shortening and alteration of sprightly [Barnhart], or from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse sprækr, dialectal Swedish sprygg "brisk, active"), from Proto-Germanic *sprek-, from PIE root *(s)preg- (2) "to jerk, scatter" (see sparse).
spud (n.): mid-15c., "small or poor knife," of uncertain origin probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjot "spear," German Spiess "spear, lance"). Meaning "spade" is from 1660s; sense of "short or stumpy person or thing" is from 1680s; that of "potato" is first recorded 1845 in New Zealand English.
spue (v.): variant of spew (v.).
spumante (n.): sparkling white wine from Asti in Piedmont, 1908, from Italian spumante, literally "sparkling," from spuma "foam, froth" (see spume).
spume (n.): late 14c., from Old French spume, from Latin spuma "foam" (also source of Italian spuma, Spanish espuma); cognate with Old English fam, Old High German veim "foam" (see foam (n.)).
spumescent (adj.): "foaming, frothing," 1856, from Latin spumescentem (nominative spumescens), present participle of spumescere "grow frothy," from spuma (see spume) + inchoative suffix -escere.
spumoni (n.): kind of ice cream dessert, 1929, from Italian spumone (singular), spumoni (plural), from spuma "foam" (see spume).
spun: past participle of spin (v.).
spunk (n.): 1530s, "a spark," Scottish, from Gaelic spong "tinder, pith, sponge," from Latin spongia (see sponge (n.)). The sense of "courage, pluck, mettle" is first attested 1773. A similar sense evolution took place in cognate Irish sponnc "sponge, tinder, spark; courage, spunk." Vulgar slang sense of "seminal fluid" is recorded from c. 1888.
spunky (adj.): "courageous, spirited," 1786, from spunk (n.) + -y (2). Related: Spunkily; spunkiness.
spur (n.): Old English spura, spora "metal implement worn on the heel to goad a horse" (related to spurnan "to kick"), from Proto-Germanic *spuron (cognates: Old Norse spori, Middle Dutch spore, Dutch spoor, Old High German sporo, German Sporn "spur"), from PIE *spere- "ankle" (see spurn). Related to Dutch spoor, Old English spor "track, footprint, trace."

Generalized sense of "anything that urges on, stimulus," is from late 14c. As a sharp projection on the leg of a cock, from 1540s. Meaning "a ridge projecting off a mountain mass" is recorded from 1650s. Of railway lines from 1837. "Widely extended senses ... are characteristic of a horsey race" [Weekley]. Expression on the spur of the moment (1801) preserves archaic phrase on the spur "in great haste" (1520s). To win one's spurs is to gain knighthood by some valorous act, gilded spurs being the distinctive mark of a knight.