sprit

See also: Sprit, sprīt, and șpriț

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spɹɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle English sprete, from Old English sprēot (“pole, pike, spear”), from Proto-Germanic *spreut, related to Proto-West Germanic *sprutō (“shoot, sprout”). Cognate with West Frisian spriet (“sprit, spoke”), Dutch spriet (“a sprit, blade, spar, shoot, sprig”), Middle High German spriez (“sprout, twig”).

Noun

sprit (plural sprits)

1. (nautical) A spar between mast and upper outer corner of a spritsail on sailing boats.
   • 1899, Joseph Conrad, chapter 1, in Heart of Darkness:

     ... and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits.

2. A shoot; a sprout.
   • 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], published 1708, →OCLC:

     the Maltſter will ſtir his Barley Couches till the Sprit begins to fork , five or ſix times a day or more ; it being always his Care to keep them from drying too much on the outſides

Hyponyms

• (supporting spar in spritsail rig): bowsprit

Derived terms

• spritsail

 

Translations

supporting spar in spritsail rig

• Finnish: varpatanko
• Hebrew: מוֹט (he) m (mot)
• Latvian: šprits m
• Livonian: sprīt
• Maori: tākotokoto, tātākoto, kihau, tītoko
• Norman: sprède f, sprède du grand mât f
• Polish: rozprza f
• Russian: шпринто́в (ru) m (šprintóv)

Etymology 2

Variant of spurt, spirt (“to sprout, burst”).

Verb

sprit (third-person singular simple present sprits, present participle spritting, simple past and past participle spritted)

1. To sprout; to bud; to germinate, as barley steeped for malt.
2. To throw out with force from a narrow orifice; to eject; to spurt out.

Anagrams

• Strip, TRIPS, spirt, stirp, strip, trips

Danish

Etymology

Via French esprit from Latin spīritus (“breath, spirit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsb̥ʁid̥]

Noun

sprit c (singular definite spritten, not used in plural form)

1. spirits
2. hand gel

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin spiritus, via French esprit.

Noun

sprit m (definite singular spriten)

1. alcohol
2. spirit (spirits)

Derived terms

• rødsprit

References

• “sprit” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin spiritus, via French esprit.

Noun

sprit m (definite singular spriten)

1. alcohol
2. spirit (spirits)

Derived terms

• raudsprit

References

• “sprit” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From French ésprit (compare English sprite), from Old French esprit, from Latin spiritus (“air, breath”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spriːt/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

sprit c (uncountable)

1. spirits, liquor, booze
   • 1985, Eddie Meduza (lyrics and music), “Alla tiders fyllekalas [All times' [as in greatest of all time or the like – idiomatic] drunken party]”:

     Gyllensten fyller femtio år. Har alltid på spriten varit svår. Så när vi nu på hans bjudning går, så vet vi ju alla vad vi får.

     Gyllensten is turning fifty years old [today]. Has always been keen on the booze. So now when we go to his party [finer private party with invited guests], we all know what we're getting.

   • 1991, De Lyckliga Kompisarna (lyrics and music), “Dricka sprit och hålla käften [Drinking booze and shutting up [more literally, "(to) drink booze and shut up" – not in the imperative]]”, in Le som en fotomodell [Smile like a model]:

     Dricka sprit, och hålla käften. Dricka sprit, och hålla käften. Dricka billig sprit, och hålla käften. Jag vill dit.

     Drinking booze, and shutting up. Drinking booze, and shutting up. Drinking cheap booze, and shutting up. I want to get there [I want thither / to there].

   • 1995, Räserbajs (lyrics and music), “Spriten räddade mig från sporten [Booze [the booze] saved me from sports]”, in Noppriga tights och moonboots [Pilly tights and moon boots]:

     Spriten räddade [often clipped to "rädda" in speech] mig från sporten (tra-la ho ho). Spriten räddar folk från sporten, idag.

     Booze saved me from sports ["the sport" – definite is often idiomatic when referring to concepts] (tra-la ho ho). Booze saves people from sports, today.

2. alcohol in general, chiefly as a solvent

Declension

Declension of sprit
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	sprit	spriten	—	—
Genitive	sprits	spritens	—	—

Derived terms

• (liquor): starksprit
• (solvent): handsprit, läkarsprit, spritpenna

Related terms

• sprita

See also

• likör

References

• sprit in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sprit in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sprit in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)