sprent

American  

[sprent] / sprɛnt /

adjective

Archaic.

1. sprinkled.

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Etymology

Origin of sprent

First recorded in 1505–15; past participle of obsolete sprenge “to sprinkle,” Middle English sprengen, Old English sprengan; cognate with Old High German, Middle High German, German sprengen, Old Norse sprengja “to cause to jump”; cf. sprinkle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sprent

Be is an intensive prefix; sprent is connected with M.E. sprengen, to scatter, of which sprinkle is the frequentative form.

From Milton's Comus by Bell, William

I have inhaled love like a garland sprent With morning dew, and fragrant with a scent That set my kisses fluttering over it, As butterflies of silk and velvet flit.

From Contemporary Belgian Poetry Selected and Translated by Jethro Bithell by Various

In Cu. a pen is said to sprent when it scatters the ink over the paper.

From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by Flom, George Tobias

What then shall hinder but a roscid aire With gentle heat each where be ’sperst and sprent.

From Democritus Platonissans by More, Henry

Down bent He o’er her hair, thick with the night-dew sprent.

From Lilith The Legend of the First Woman by Collier, Ada Langworthy