▪ I. sprit, n.1
(sprɪt)
Forms: α. 1, 4 spreot, 4–5 sprete, 7–9 spreet. β. 4, 7 spret, 5–7 sprett(e. γ. 5–6 spryt, sprytt, sprite (7 spright), 5, 7–8 spritt, 6– sprit.
[OE. spréot, = MDu. (Du. and WFris.) spriet, MLG. spryet, spriet, (hence G. spriet) and spreet, NFris. sprit, spret, ultimately related to sprote1 and sprout v.1]
1. A pole, esp. one used for propelling a boat; a punting-pole; † a spear.
| a c 725 Corpus Gloss. C 609 Contis, spreotum. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 143 Trudes, uel amites, spreotas. 1023 in Thorpe Charters 318 Anes mannes lenge þe healt anne spreot on his hand and strecþ hine swa feor swa he mæᵹ aræcan into þere sæ. 13.. St. Cristofer 300 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 458 A lang sprete he bare in hande To strenghe him in þe water to stande. 13.. K. Alis. 858 (Linc. MS.), Þe þrid day þey gan aryue, Þey swymmed wiþ spreot,..And bryngiþ schipes to þe lond. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 12653 Thei brende bothe mast & wynlase, Sterne & stere, ore & spretes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 470/2 Sprete, or qvante,..contus. |
| β c 1350 Will. Palerne 2754 Sone as þe schipmen seie him out lepen, hastili hent eche man a spret or an ore. a 1400 Octouian 601 A sprette ouyr the bord they caste. 1530 Palsgr. 274/2 Sprette for watermen, picq. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xviii. v. 111 Antoninus..set his course against our State and Common-wealth, not (as they say) with spret nor oare, with shooving, or haling,..but even with spred and full sayle. 1687 Shadwell Tenth Sat. Juvenal 38 Contus signifies a Quant or Sprett, with which they shove Boats. |
| γ c 1435 Torr. Portugal 181 Torrent undyr hys spryt [= spear] he sprent, And abowght the body he hyme hente. a 1450 Octavian 469 Some hente an oore,..some a sprytt, The lyenas for to meete. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iii. 126 b, This Arke..was rowed neither with sprites, nor ores,..but [driven] by wheeles wrought within her. 1606 Holland Sueton. 116 A number of mariners, who with their sprits, poles and oares should beate..their carkasses. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia 321 Sprit, a pole to push a boat forward. 1903 Longman's Mag. Jan. 216 You could not perceive when the flat bit of wood at the end of the sprit touched it [i.e. the bottom of a mere]. |
2. Naut. a. ‘A small boom or pole which crosses the sail of a boat diagonally from the mast to the upper hindmost corner of the sail, which it is used to extend and elevate’ (Falconer).
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 104 Wiȝt at þe wyndas [they] weȝen her ankres, Sprude spak to þe sprete þe spare bawe-lyne. 1399 Rolls of Parlt. III. 444/2 Par le rumper d'un cabel, rope, sprete, ou mast d'ascun Shoute. 1417 in For. Acc. 8 Hen. V, G/1, j dialle, j Soundynglyne, j Roffe Sprite in Balingera Regis. 1536 in Marsden Sel. Pl. Crt. Adm. (1894) I. 54 Possessione virge, Anglice a yard or a spyryt [sic]. 1716 Phil. Trans. XXIX. 497 This Machine I suspended from the Mast of a Ship, by a Spritt which was sufficiently secured by Stays to the Mast-head. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v., The lower end of the sprit rests in a sort of wreath or collar called the snotter. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiv. 316 A stouter mainsail of fourteen-feet lift with a spreet eighteen feet long. 1913 Act 2 & 3 Geo. V, c. 31 §39 A pilot flag..to be placed at the mast head, or on a sprit or staff. |
b. (See quot.)
| 1846 Young Naut. Dict. 293 A Sprit, or Spur, in a sheer⁓hulk is a spar for keeping the sheers out to the required distance. |
3. attrib., as sprit pole, sprit rig, sprit staff, sprit topmast, sprit topsail, sprit yard.
| 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 49 Spritt yerds, j; Spritte sailes, j. 1497 Ibid. 300 Fore yerdes, j; sprete yerdes, j. 1611 Cotgr., Miquelot,..a poore, pettie, vagabond Pedler, that with a spritstaffe crosses from place to place. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 31 Your Spret and Spret top-saile. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Yard, Sprit-topsail yard equal to the fore top gallant-yard. 1894 Outing XXIV. 84/2 The sprit rig cannot be said to be pretty. 1903 Longman's Mag. Jan. 216 Under the influence of the silent sprit-pole it seemed to move by some voluntary self-contained power. |
▪ II. sprit, n.2
(sprɪt)
[f. sprit v.1 Cf. spirt n.3 and spurt n.2]
a. A young shoot of a plant or tree. b. A sprout of a seed or root.
| 1622 Jrnl. Eng. Plantation Plymouth New England 7 As we wandred we came to a tree, where a yong Spritt was bowed downe over a bow, and some Acornes strewed vnder neath. 1682 Houghton's Lett. Husb. & Trade I. 67 Sometimes..I have known our Maltster stir his Barly-Couches..till the Sprit begins to fork, five or six times a day. Ibid. 68 When the Sprits come forth at the Root end of the Corn, another Sprit, which we call the Acrospire, begins to stir at the same end. 1851 Sternberg Northampt. Dial., Sprit, a sprout; the awn of barley. 1886 Holland Cheshire Gloss. 334 Sprit, a sprout from the eye of a potato, or the young radicle of corn when it first begins to grow. |
▪ III. sprit, n.3 Sc.
= spret. Also collect.
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 268 It becomes instantly filled with sprits, rushes and other aquatics. 1807 Ess. Highl. Soc. III. 469 Bog ground is for the most part covered with sprit, of the smaller sort of which they make what they call bog hay. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 373/2 Many marshy and boggy places abound in some of the species having leafy stems and the leaves jointed internally, popularly called Sprots or Sprits. 1883 G. M'Michael Notes Way thr. Ayrshire 90 The Afton descends between rocky banks, mostly covered with bent and sprit. |
▪ IV. sprit, n.4 techn.
(See quot. 1880.)
| 1812 Dubourdieu Antrim 197 This substance, howsoever it may be acquired, and which by bleachers is called sprit, adheres so closely to the rind..as to have eluded all the..processes..of the old mode of bleaching. 1880 Spons' Encycl. Manuf. I. 518 The object of the rubbing..is to remove small specks of brownish matter called ‘sprits’, which may appear here and there throughout the piece. |
▪ V. sprit, ppl. a.
[f. sprit v.1]
(See quots.)
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 73/2 Spritt, or Blasted, when it [grass or grain] is beaten down by Rain, and through moisture begins to grow again. 1790 W. H. Marshall Rur. Econ. Midl. II. 443 Sprit, sprouted, as corn in the field. 1808 H. Holland Cheshire 147 A potatoe is said to be well sprit, when it has a shoot from two to four inches long. |
▪ VI. sprit, v.1 Now dial.
(sprɪt)
Forms: 1 spryttan, 3 sprutten, 7– sprit.
[OE. spryttan:—*sprutjan, f. the weak grade of the stem represented by sprout v.1 Cf. spirt v.2 and spurt v.2]
intr. To sprout or shoot; to germinate. Hence ˈspritted ppl. a.
| c 900 tr. Baeda's Eccl. Hist. i. xxi. (heading), Eft spryttendum [v.r. sprutendum] þam twiᵹum ðæs Pelagianiscan woles. c 1000 Saxon Leechd. II. 148 Þonne treow & wyrta ærest up spryttað. a 1225 Ancr. R. 86 Ase þe wiði þet sprutteð ut þe betere þet me hine ofte croppeð. |
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 60 Some affirm that Corn spritted a little,..and then sowen, came up speedily. 1844 Phytologist I. 584 Do the seeds of pasture grasses ever germinate in the husk, like wheat, when it is said to ‘sprit’? 1886–7 in Cheshire glossaries. 1911 D. H. Lawrence White Peacock ii. viii. 335 We..went along the wet furrows, sticking the spritted tubers in the cold ground. |
▪ VII. sprit, v.2 ? Obs.
[Of obscure origin: cf. spirt v.3]
intr. To spring, dart.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2316 He sprit forth spenne fote more þen a spere lenþe. 1836 Hooton Bilberry Thurland I. vii. 142 The rabbits..would..sprit across to the field-sides in search of better herbage. |