sperse

English edit

Etymology edit

Aphetic form of asperse, from Latin aspersus, past participle of aspergere.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /spɜː(ɹ)s/
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Verb edit

sperse (third-person singular simple present sperses, present participle spersing, simple past and past participle spersed)

(obsolete) To disperse.
- 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “The Visions of Bellay”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:
  On all which did against his course oppose,
  Into a cloud of dust spers'd in the air

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “sperse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)