spring

spring · verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*spre(n)ǵʰ-“to move, race, spring”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*springaną“to burst forth”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*springan
4. Old English · inherited fromspringan“to spring, leap, bounce, sprout forth, emerge, spread out”
5. Middle English · inherited fromspringen
6. English todayspring

From Middle English springen, from Old English springan (“to spring, leap, bounce, sprout forth, emerge, spread out”), from Proto-West Germanic *springan, from Proto-Germanic *springaną (“to burst forth”), from Proto-Indo-European *spre(n)ǵʰ- (“to move, race, spring”), from *sperǵʰ- (“to hurry”). Cognates * Saterland Frisian springe * West Frisian springe * Dutch springen * German Low German springen * German springen * Danish springe * Swedish springa * Norwegian springe * Faroese springa * Icelandic springa (“to burst, explode”). Other possible cognates include Lithuanian spreñgti (“to push (in)”), Old Church Slavonic прѧсти (pręsti, “to spin, to stretch”), Latin spargere (“to sprinkle, to scatter”), Ancient Greek σπέρχω (spérkhō, “to hasten”), Sanskrit स्पृहयति (spṛháyati, “to be eager”). Some newer senses derived from the noun.

spring · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sprungiz“a jump”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sprungi
3. Old English · inherited fromspryng“a jump”
4. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*springaz“a wellspring, fount”
5. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*spring
6. Old English · inherited fromspring“wellspring, ulcer”
7. Middle English · inherited fromspryng“a wellspring, tide, branch, sunrise, kind of dance or blow, ulcer, snare, flock”
8. English todayspring

From Middle English spryng (“a wellspring, tide, branch, sunrise, kind of dance or blow, ulcer, snare, flock”); partly from Old English spring (“wellspring, ulcer”), from Proto-West Germanic *spring, from Proto-Germanic *springaz (“a wellspring, fount”); and partly from Old English spryng (“a jump”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprungi, from Proto-Germanic *sprungiz (“a jump”). Further senses derived from the verb and from clippings of day-spring, springtime, spring tide, etc. Its sense as the season, first attested in a work predating 1325, gradually replaced Middle English lenten, lente, from Old English lencten (“spring, Lent”) as that word became more specifically liturgical. Compare fall.

Words from the same roots