▪ I. † sprot1 Obs.
Forms: α. 1–2, 4–7 sprot, 1, 4–6 sprott, 5–6 sprotte. β. 5–7 sprote.
[OE. sprot, = Fris., MDu. and Du., MLG. sprot (hence G. sprott, † sprotte, obs. Da. sprot, spr{obar}t, spryt).]
a. = sprat n.1 1. b. A smelt.
| α c 1000 ælfric Lives Saints xxxi. 1271 Hi ealle ne mihton, Ne fisceras ne he sylf, ᵹefon ænne sprot. c 1055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 310 Ða myclan hwælas and ða lytlan sprottas and eall fisc kynn. c 1110 in Napier Contrib. O.E. Lexicog. 14 Silurus, sprot, glaucus, hwitling. 1309–10 Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 8. 1328–9 Exch. K.R. Mem. m. 125, Piscem qui dicitur sprot. 14.. Piers of Fulham in Hartshorne Anc. Metr. T. 119 The cely fisshes can nat hem selff excuse; Tyll it be spitted like a sprotte. 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 263 Rede sprottis: x cades maketh a last. 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 3 Fisher men..vse commonly to conducte and conuey their hearing, sprottes, and other fyshe to..Kyngstone. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 434 Sprots salted haue a special propertie to heal the biting of the beetle or venomous fly Prester. |
| β c 1475 Cath. Angl. 357/1 Sprote, epimera, piscis est. 1557 W. Turner Ep. in Gesner Hist. Anim. (1558) 1296 Apua quæ a Cantabrigensibus uocatur a Spirlyng, a Londinensibus, dum recens est, a Sprote; et infumata a rede Sprote, aut a dryed Sprote. 1583 Shuttleworth's Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 7 Rede herynges and a hundrethe of sprotes, xij{supd}. 1609–10 Ibid. 186 A hundreth of sprotes, xj{supd}. |
| attrib. 1499 Maldon Court Rolls Bundle 58 No. 2 b, Pro le mesurage v. chaldre colys pro j sprotebote. 1500 Ibid. Bundle 59 No. 2, De custum, j sprotbote, iii. d. |
▪ II. sprot2 Sc. (and north.).
Also 9 sprote, sprott.
[Cf. sprat n.3]
A coarse kind of rush or rush-like grass.
| c 1600 Lindesay's (Pitscottie) Chron. (S.T.S.) I. 336 note, The fluir layd with greine scheirrittis, with sprottis, medwartis, and flouris. 1808 Jamieson s.v. Sprat, They are called sprotes [in] Ang[us]. 1825 Ibid. Suppl., Fosset,..a mat of rushes or sprots, laid on a horse. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Borders 199 Juncus acutiflorus. Sprat or Sprot. 1883 G. M'Michael Notes Way thr. Ayrshire 78 All east of this is moorland, clad with bent, heath, and sprotts. |
▪ III. sprot3 rare.
[Of obscure origin.]
(See quot.)
| 1846 E. Jesse Anecd. Dogs 269 The otter swims and dives with great celerity, and in doing the latter, it throws up sprots or air bubbles. |