S P R 
To SPRIT, v. n. [jpjiyfcan, Sax,; spruyten, Dutch.] 
To shoot; to germinate; to sprout. Used of barley wetted 
for malt. 
SPRIT, s. [j'ppote. Sax., serculusi] Shoot; sprout.— 
The barley, after it has been couched four days, will sweat a 
little, and shew the chit or sprit at the root-end of the corn. 
Mortimer. —[pppeoc. Sax., contusi] A pole: hence our 
word bow-sprit. 
SPRI'T-SAIL, s. The sail which belongs to the bow-sprit 
mast. Diet. —Our men quitted themselves of the fire-ship, 
by cutting the sprit-sail tackle off with their short hatchets. 
Wiseman. 
SPRITE, s. A spirit; an incorporeal agent. See Spkight. 
The sprites of fiery termagants in flame 
Mount up, and take a salamander’s name. Pope. 
Of these am I who thy protection claim, 
A watchful sprite, and Ariel is my name. Pope. 
SPRl'TEFUL, adj. Gay; lively ; cheerful. 
A spriteful gait that leaves no print, 
And makes a feather of a flint. Stroud. 
SPRI'TEFULLY, adv. Vigorously ; with life and ardour. 
The Grecians spritefully drew from the darts the corse, 
And hearst it, bearing it to fleet. Chapman. 
SPRI'TELESS, adj. See Sprightless. 
SPRI'TELINESS, s. See Sprightliness. —Wit and 
spriteliness of conversation. Warton. 
SPRI'TELY, adj. See Sprightly. 
SPRI'TELY, adv. Gayly. 
You have not seene young heiffers, hihly kept; 
Fill’d full of daisies at the field and driven 
Home to their hovels; all so spritely given. 
That no roome can contain them. Chapman. 
SPROATLEY, a parish of England, East Riding of York¬ 
shire ; 7 miles north-east of Kingston-upon-Hull. 
SPROD, .9. A salmon while in its second year’s growth : 
so called by fishermen in many parts of England. Chambers. 
SPROE, or Sprogoe, a small island of Denmark, situated 
in the Great Belt, between Funen and Zealand; 8 miles north¬ 
west of Corsoer. Lat. 55. 22. N. long. 10. 59. E. 
SPRONG. The old preterite of spring .— Not mistrusting, 
till these new curiosities sprong up, that ever any man would 
think our labour herein mispent, or the time wastefully con¬ 
sumed. Hooker. 
SPROSTON, a township of England, in Cheshire; 2 miles 
east of Middlewich. 
SPROTBOROUGH, a township of England, West Riding 
of Yorkshire; 3 miles west-south-west of Doncaster. 
SPROTTA, a small river of Silesia, which rises in the 
principality of Liegnitz, and falls into the Bober near the 
town of Sprottau. 
SPROTTAU, a town of Prussian Silesia, at the conflu¬ 
ence of the Sprotta and the Bober. Population 2500 ; 71 
miles west-north-west of Breslau, and 21 west-south-west of 
Gross Glogau. 
SPROUGHTON, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 3 miles 
west-by-north of Ipswich. 
SPROUSTON, a parish and village of Scotland, in Rox¬ 
burghshire, about 6 miles long and 4 broad. Population 
1199,200 of whom reside in the village. 
To SPROUT, v.n. [pppytan, Sax.; spruyten, Dutch. 
Sprout, sprit, and by a very'frequent transposition spirt or 
spurt, are all the same word.] To shoot by vegetation; to 
germinate. 
The sprouting leaves that saw you here, 
And call’d their fellows to the sight. Cowley. 
To shoot into ramifications. — Vitriol is apt to sprout with 
moisture. Bacon .— To grow. 
Th’ enlivening dust its head begins to rear. 
And on the ashes sprouting plumes appear. Tickell. 
SPROUT, s. [fppote, pppauca, Sax.] A shoot of a 
S P R 4.95 
vegetable.—-Stumps of trees, lying out of the ground, will 
put forth sprouts for a time. Bacon. 
Early ere the odorous breath of morn 
Awakes the slumbering leaves, or tassel’d horn 
Shakes the high thicket, haste I all about, 
Number my ranks, and visit every sprout. Milton. 
To this kid, taken out of the womb, were brought in the 
tender sprouts of shrubs; and, after it had tasted, began to 
eat of such as are the usual food of goats. Bay. 
SPROUTS, s. pi. Young coleworts. 
SPROWSTON.a parish of England, in Norfolk; 3 miles 
north-east of Norwich. 
SPROXTON, a parish of England, in Leicestershire; 8 
miles north-east of Melton Mowbray. 
SPROXTON, a parish of England, North Riding of York¬ 
shire; 2 miles south of Helmesley. 
SPRUCE, adj. [Serenius refers the word to the Swed. 
shraeg, formosus; spraekt et spraeg, clarus et splendens 
(de pannis). With this our provincial word sprey, or spry, 
in great measure, accords; which in some places is used for 
smart, elegant. —Barret describes Prussian leather under the 
simple name of spruce ; and thus, in reference to fine habi¬ 
liments, a sprusado likewise became a term to denote one 
who payed great attention to dress: “ They put me in mind 
of the answer of that sprusado to a judge in this kingdom, a 
rigid censor of men’s habits; who, seeing a neat finical 
divine come before him in a cloak lined through with plush, 
encountered him.” Comment on Chaucer, 1665.] Nice ; 
trim; neat without elegance. It was anciently used of things 
with a serious meaning: it is now used only of persons, and 
with levity. 
The tree 
That wraps that crystal in a wooden tomb. 
Shall be took up spruce, fill’d with diamond. Donne. 
Thou wilt not leave me in the middle street, 
Tho’ some more spruce companion thou do’st meet. Donne. 
Along the crisped shades and bowers 
Revels the spruce and jocund spring; 
The graces, and the rosy-bosom’d hours, 
Thither all their bounties bring. Milton. 
To SPRUCE, v. n. To dress with affected neatness. 
Unused. 
To SPRUCE, v. a. To trim; to dress.— Sprucing up 
the hairy cheeks. Ainsworth. 
SPRUCE, s. A species of fir.—Those from Prussia (which 
we call spruce) and Norway are the best. The hemlock- 
tree as they call it in New England) is a kind of spruce. 
Evelyn. 
SPRUCE-BEER, s. Beer tinctured with branches of fir. 
—In ulcers of the kidneys spruce-beer is a good balsamick. 
Arbuthnot. 
SPRUCE-LEATHER, s. Corrupted for Prussian lea¬ 
ther. —The leather was of Pruce. Dryden. 
SPRU'CELY, adv. In a nice manner. 
Under that fayre ruffe so sprucely set 
Appears a fall, a falling band forsooth! Marston. 
SPRU'CENESS, s. Neatness without elegance; trimness; 
quaintness; delicacy; fineness.—Now, in the time of spruce¬ 
ness, our plays follow the niceness of our garments. Mid¬ 
dleton. 
SPRUNG. The preterite and participle passive of spring. 
Tall Norway fir, their masts in battle spent. 
And English oaks, sprung leaks, and planks, restore. 
Dryden. 
To SPRUNT, v.n. [sprengeri, Teut.; ppping, Sax.] To 
spring up; to germinate. This is an ancient verb: “ To 
spruntone or buttone, pullulo.” Prompt. Parv. — To 
spring forward. 
See this sweet simpering babe. 
Dear image of thyself; see! how it sprunts 
With joy at thy approach. Somerville. 
SPRUNT, 
