spry

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)preg-“to strew, jerk, sprinkle, scatter”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*sprēkiz“lively”
3. Old Norse · derived fromsprækr“nimble, lively”
4. English todayspry

From British dialectal sprey, from Old Norse sprækr (“nimble, lively”) from Proto-Germanic *sprēkiz (“lively”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)preg- (“to strew, jerk, sprinkle, scatter”). Cognate with Icelandic sprækur (“lively, spry”), Norwegian sprek (“lively, healthy”), dialectal Swedish sprygg (“brisk, very active, skittish”). More at spark. Related to sprack, sprig, sprug, freckle.

Words from the same roots