sprent

sprent · verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sper-“to twitch; fidget; flinch; jump; be quick”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sprend-
3. Proto-Germanic · derived from*sprintaną“to jump up; bounce”
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*sprantijaną
5. Old Norse · derived from*sprenta
6. Middle English · inherited fromsprenten
7. English todaysprent

From Middle English sprenten, from Old Norse *sprenta (for later spretta), from Proto-Germanic *sprantijaną, causative of Proto-Germanic *sprintaną (“to jump up; bounce”), from Proto-Indo-European *sprend-, *sprendʰ- (“to flinch; jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to twitch; fidget; flinch; jump; be quick”). Cognate with Middle High German sprenzen (“to sprinkle; splash”), Swedish spritta (“to startle”), Icelandic spretta (“to spring forth; emerge; arise; develop”).

sprent · adjective²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sprangijaną
2. Old English · inherited fromsprengan“to cause to spring; scatter”
3. Middle English · derived fromsprengen“to sprinkle”
4. Middle English · inherited fromsprent
5. English todaysprent

From Middle English sprent, sprend (“sprinkled”), past participle of Middle English sprengen (“to sprinkle”), from Old English sprengan (“to cause to spring; scatter”), from Proto-Germanic *sprangijaną, causative of *springaną (“to spring; jump”). More at spring.

Words from the same roots