sprat

[ sprat ]
noun,plural sprats, (especially collectively) sprat for 1.

  1. a species of herring, Clupea sprattus, of the eastern North Atlantic.

  2. a small or inconsequential person or thing.

Origin of sprat

1
1590–1600; variant of earlier sprot,Middle English, Old English (cognate with German Sprott); apparently same word as Old English sprott sprout, twig (for the two meanings cf. sprag2); akin to Old English spryttan to sprout

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for sprat

sprat

/ (spræt) /

noun

  1. a small marine food fish, Clupea sprattus, of the NE Atlantic Ocean and North Sea: family Clupeidae (herrings): See also brisling

  2. any of various small or young herrings

Origin of sprat

1
C16: variant of Old English sprott; related to Middle Low German sprott, Norwegian sprot small rod

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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