spruit
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Afrikaans spruit. Doublet of sprout.
NounEdit
spruit (plural spruits)
- (South Africa) A small headstream; a stream flowing through a village, dry in summer.
- 1901 October 11, Colonel F. V. Corbett, “Report on Irrigation in Natal”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record[1], volume 4, number 16, page 489:
- Though there is such a poor prospect for public irrigation schemes, the country seems, on the whole, fairly well watered in years of normal rainfall, and there are many springs and "spruits," or rivulets, more or less permanent.
AnagramsEdit
AfrikaansEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Dutch spruit, from Middle Dutch sprute. Cognate with English sprite, sprout.
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file)
NounEdit
spruit (plural spruite, diminutive spruitjie)
Usage notesEdit
- Especially used in toponyms.
DutchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle Dutch sprute, spruut, spruyte, from Old Dutch *sprūtan. Cognate with English sprite, sprout.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
spruit f (plural spruiten, diminutive spruitje n)
- (botany) A sprout, shoot, a branch-like part of a plant which grows from the rest
- A child, seen as a parent's offspring, usually said of a minor
- (construction) A style or beam which rests on another
- A branch of a plumbing pipe, rope etc.
- (geography) A small river, river branch, especially used in South African toponyms
Derived termsEdit
- bladspruit
- spruitje (“Brussels sprout”)
- spruitkool
- spruitzwam
DescendantsEdit
VerbEdit
spruit
- first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of spruiten
- imperative of spruiten
ReferencesEdit
- M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]