The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sp(h)er(a)g-“to strew, sprinkle”
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*sparkaz
- Old Norse · derived fromsprækr“lively”
- Old Norse · derived fromsparkr
- Middle English · inherited fromsprak
- English todaysprack
From Middle English sprak, from Old Norse sparkr, sprekr (“lively”) and/or Old Norse sprækr (“lively”), from Proto-Germanic *sparkaz, *sprēkijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)er(a)g- (“to strew, sprinkle”). More at spark.
Words from the same roots
Old Norsesprækr all →
spry
Proto-Germanic*sparkaz all →
spark
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.