spring

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English [edit]

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Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English springen, from Old English springan, from Proto-Germanic *springaną (compare West Frisian springe, Dutch/Low German/German springen, Danish springe, Swedish springa), from Proto-Indo-European *sperǵʰ- (compare Lithuanian spreñgti (“to push in”), Old Church Slavonic  (pręgti, “to spin, stretch”), Ancient Greek  (spérchesthai, “to hasten”), Sanskrit  (spṛhayati, “is eager”)).

Sense of ‘season’ 1547, from earlier springing time, spring-time, in sense of buds sprouting or “spring” up. This replaced Old English Lent by the 14th century.[1]

Sense of ‘source of water’ attested circa 1225.[1]

Verb [edit]

spring (third-person singular simple present springs, present participle springing, simple past sprang or sprung, past participle sprung)

  1. To jump or leap.
    He sprang up from his seat.
    • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
      She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it was, the jar made her catch her breath and wonder what had happened; and Toto put his cold little nose into her face and whined dismally. Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.
    • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5
      Not thirty paces behind the two she crouched—Sabor, the huge lioness—lashing her tail. Cautiously she moved a great padded paw forward, noiselessly placing it before she lifted the next. Thus she advanced; her belly low, almost touching the surface of the ground--a great cat preparing to spring upon its prey.
    • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 2
      Archer and Jacob jumped up from behind the mound where they had been crouching with the intention of springing upon their mother unexpectedly, and they all began to walk slowly home.
  2. To produce or disclose unexpectedly, especially of surprises, traps, etc.
  3. (slang) To release or set free, especially from prison.

Usage notes [edit]

  • The past-tense forms sprang and sprung are both well attested historically. In modern usage, sprang is comparatively formal (and more often considered correct), sprung comparatively informal. The past participle, however, is overwhelmingly sprung; sprang as a past participle is attested, but is no longer in standard use.

Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from the verb to spring

Related terms [edit]

Terms related to the verb to spring

Translations [edit]

to jump or leap
to produce or disclose unexpectedly
to release or set free
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun [edit]

A coil spring (mechanical device)

spring (countable and uncountable; plural springs)

  1. A leap; a bound; a jump.
    • Dryden
      The prisoner, with a spring, from prison broke.
  2. (countable) Traditionally the first of the four seasons of the year in temperate regions, in which plants spring from the ground and trees come into blossom, following winter and preceding summer.
    Spring is the time of the year most species reproduce.
    I spent my spring holidays in Morocco.
    You can visit me in the spring, when the weather is bearable.
  3. (countable) Meteorologically, the months of March, April and May in the northern hemisphere (or September, October and November in the southern).
  4. (countable) The astronomically delineated period from the moment of vernal equinox, approximately March 21 in the northern hemisphere to the moment of the summer solstice, approximately June 21. (See Wikipedia-logo.png Spring (season) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Spring (season) for other variations.)
  5. (countable) Spring tide; a tide of greater-than-average range, that is, around the first or third quarter of a lunar month, or around the times of the new or full moon.
  6. (countable) A place where water emerges from the ground.
    This water is bottled from the spring of the river.
  7. (uncountable) The property of a body of springing to its original form after being compressed, stretched, etc.
    the spring of a bow
  8. Elastic power or force.
    • Dryden
      Heavens! what a spring was in his arm!
  9. (countable) A mechanical device made of flexible or coiled material that exerts force when it is bent, compressed or stretched.
    We jumped so hard the bed springs broke.
  10. (countable, slang) An erection of the penis.
  11. (countable) The source of an action or of a supply.
    • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973, § 9.
      ... discover, at least in some degree, the secret springs and principles, by which the human mind is actuated in its operations?
    • Bible, Psalms lxxxvii
      All my springs are in thee.
    • Bentley
      A secret spring of spiritual joy.
  12. Any active power; that by which action, or motion, is produced or propagated; cause; origin; motive.
    • Alexander Pope
      Our author shuns by vulgar springs to move / The hero's glory, or the virgin's love.
  13. That which springs, or is originated, from a source.
    1. A race; lineage.
      (Can we find and add a quotation of Chapman to this entry?)
    2. A youth; a springald.
      (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
    3. A shoot; a plant; a young tree; also, a grove of trees; woodland.
      (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
      (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)
  14. (obsolete) That which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively tune.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaumont and Flanders to this entry?)
  15. The time of growth and progress; early portion; first stage.
    • Bible, 1 Sam. ix. 26
      The spring of the day.
    • Shakespeare
      O how this spring of love resembleth / The uncertain glory of an April day.
  16. (countable, nautical) A rope attaching the bow of a vessel to the stern-side of the jetty, or vice versa, to stop the vessel from surging.
    You should put a couple of springs onto the jetty to stop the boat moving so much.
  17. (nautical) A line led from a vessel's quarter to her cable so that by tightening or slacking it she can be made to lie in any desired position; a line led diagonally from the bow or stern of a vessel to some point upon the wharf to which she is moored.
  18. (nautical) A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely.

Usage notes [edit]

  • Note that season names are usually spelled in all lowercase letters in English. This is contrast to the days of the week and months of the year, which are always spelled with a capitalized first letter, for example Thursday or September.

Synonyms [edit]

Antonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from the noun spring

Related terms [edit]

Terms related to the noun spring

Translations [edit]

leap, bound, jump
first season
meteorology: months of March to May in the northern hemisphere or September to November in the southern
astronomy: period from vernal equinox to summer solstice
higher-than-average tide
water source
property of a body of springing to its original form
elastic power or force
device made of flexible material
erection of the penis — see erection
source of an action or a supply
any active power
that which springs, or is originated, from a source
that which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively tune
time of growth and progress; early portion; first stage
nautical: rope to prevent surging
nautical: line led from a vessel's quarter to her cable
nautical: crack or fissure in a mast or yard
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “spring” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Statistics [edit]

Danish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Verbal noun to springe.

Noun [edit]

spring n (singular definite springet, plural indefinite spring)

  1. spring, jump, vault, leap

Related terms [edit]

Related terms

Inflection [edit]

    Inflection of spring
neuter gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative spring springet spring springene
genitive springs springets springs springenes

Verb [edit]

spring

  1. imperative of springe

Dutch [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /sprɪŋ/

Verb [edit]

spring

  1. first-person singular present indicative of springen
  2. imperative of springen

German [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /ʃpʀɪŋ/

Verb [edit]

spring

  1. Imperative singular of springen.
  2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of springen.

Scots [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: [sprɪŋ]

Noun [edit]

spring (plural springs)

  1. spring, springtime
  2. growth of vegetation in springtime

Verb [edit]

tae spring (third-person singular simple present springs, present participle springin, simple past sprang, past participle sprung)

  1. to spring
  2. to leap over, cross at a bound
  3. to put forth, send up or out
  4. to burst, split, break apart, break into
  5. to dance a reel

Swedish [edit]

Noun [edit]

spring n

  1. a running (back and forth)
    Eftermiddagen tillbragtes med att ordna sakerna, och när springet och släpet och hamrandet var förbi, inbjödos damerna att beskåda anstalten.
    The afternoon was spent in arranging things, and when the running and lugging and hammering was over, the ladies were invited to behold the institution.

Declension [edit]

Declension of spring
uncountable uncountable
Neuter indefinite definite
nominative spring springet
genitive springs springets

Verb [edit]

spring

  1. imperative of springa.
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