Forms: α. 3 spruten, 4, 6 sprute, 6 spruit, spruyt. β. 5 sproutyn, 6–7 sproute, sprowt(e, 6– sprout. [OE. *sprútan (cf. ásproten pa. pple.), = WFris. sprute (NFris. spröt), MDu. spruten, spruyten (Du. spruiten), MLG. spruten, MHG. spriezen (G. spriessen, † spreussen). Cf. OE. sprýtan (rare) and spryttan SPRIT v.1 The 16th-cent. forms spruit, spruyt, are due to Du. spruiten.]
1. intr. To grow, issue or proceed as a sprout or sprouts; to shoot forth or spring up by natural growth. Freq. in fig. context, and const. of, out of, from, etc.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 217. An ȝerd sal spruten of iesse more.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 11. Meidenhad is te blosme þat, beo ha eanes fulliche forcoruen, ne spruteð ha neauer eft.
1535. Coverdale, Song Sol. iv. 13. The frutes that sproute in the, are like a very paradyse of pomgranates with swete frutes.
c. 1572. Gascoigne, Fruites Warre, xvii. The bough, the braunch, the tree, From which do spring and sproute such fleshlie seedes.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iii. 60. To raine vpon Remembrance with mine Eyes, That it may grow, and sprowt, as high as Heauen.
1611. Coryat, Crudities, 87. These vines I haue seene grow so high, that they haue sprowted cleane aboue the toppe of the tree.
1662. J. Tatham, Aqua Triumph., 1. A Cornu-copia out of which all sorts of Flowers seem to sprout.
a. 1708. Beveridge, Priv. Th., II. (1730), 65. If the Love of Money be the Root of so many Sins of Omission, how many Sins of Commission must needs sprout from it.
1762. Foote, Orator, I. The luscious fruit sprouting from the apex of each of my ramifications.
1879. B. Taylor, Stud. Germ. Lit., 141. Verse sprouting from verse as simply as leaf from leaf.
1882. Vines, trans. Sachs’ Bot., 282. Since the filaments which produce the antheridia and oogonia sprout from it.
1904. Hichens, Garden of Allah, Prel. iv. A straggling black moustache sprouted on his upper lip.
transf. 1832. G. Downes, Lett. Cont. Countries, I. 4. A light-blue striped pair of pantaloons, sprouting from an enormous pair of wooden boots.
b. Const. with adverbs, as forth, out, up.
1530. Palsgr., 730/2. I sprowte out, or spring out, as yonge floures, or buddes, or the grasse doth, je poings.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. viii. 228. Like as out of the great armes of trees, there commonly sprowt foorth lesse.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 407. That Leafe faded, but young Buds did sprout on.
1665. Hooke, Microgr., 40. Neer the root of this Plant, were sprouted out several small Branches.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), I. 293. Among their clifts … various substances sprout forward, which are either really vegetables, or the nests of insects.
1837. P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 92. The shoots or branches … are no sooner browsed or bitten off than an increased number of new ones begin to sprout up in their place.
1861. J. R. Greene, Man. Anim. Kingd., Cœlent., 171. In most Zoantharia either five or six tentacles first sprout forth.
fig. 1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 210. The ruites of the Pelagian hæresie, now spruitting vpe litle and litle.
1641. Milton, Prel. Episc., Wks. 1851, III. 84. The warme effusion of his last blood, that sprouted up into eternall Roses to crowne his Martyrdome.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 14. From this cursed Doctrine are sprouted forth many diverse Sects.
1677. Yarranton, Eng. Improv., 22. Out of such a Bank will sprout out many Lumber houses and smaller Banks, to quicken Trade.
1732. Berkeley, Alciphr., II. § 23. You shall see natural and just ideas sprout forth of themselves.
transf. 1870. Rock, Text. Fabr., 63. Gold thread sprouting up like loops.
c. Of persons: To originate or spring.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, III. (Arb.), 75. From whence [sc. Hesperus] oure auncetrye sprouted.
1612. T. Taylor, Comm. Titus Ded. Cham, of whome quickely sprowted that cursed race of the Cananites.
a. 1653. Gouge, Comm. Heb. ii. 17. The stock whence all men sprout was most impure and unholy.
2. Of a tree, plant, seed, etc.: To put forth, throw up or out, a sprout or sprouts; to develop new growths or shoots; to bud.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11216. He þat þe walud wand moght ger In a night leif and fruit ber,… And in a night sua did it sprute To flur and fruit.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 471/1. Sproutyn, or burionyn,… pululo.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. (1568), 156. Tribulus that hath the prickes in the leaues doth spruit or bud oute later.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 604. There be very few Creatures, that participate of the Nature of Plants, and Metalls both; Corall is one…: Another is Vitriol, for that is aptest to sprout with Moisture.
1632. Sanderson, Serm., 554. An egge may be hatched into a bird, and a kirnell sprowt and grow into a tree.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 288. According to the time each sort of seed may require to sprout.
c. 1787. G. White, Selborne, ii. The tree sprouted for a time, then withered and died.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, ii. 27. Robertson lets the seed fall into the ground, and it sprouts.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, IV. 187. But his brows Had sprouted, and the branches thereupon spread out at top.
1862. Goulburn, Pers. Relig., ii. (1873), 11. If a branch does not sprout, and put forth leaf and blossom in the spring, we know that it is a dead branch.
fig. 1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., III. 25. Let him now get but the stump of a Crown, and with wise watering thereof, it would sprout afterwards.
1856. Boker, Poems, etc. (1857), II. 1. Should his money sprout and yield a thousand fold.
1878. T. L. Cuyler, Pointed Papers, 6. The evangelist let fall the only seed that can sprout into a true regeneration.
b. Const. with adverbs, as forth, out, up.
1589. R. Robinson, A Golden Mirrour (Chetham Soc.), 20. Each spray was sprouted out with buds.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., 227. The Hawthorne, which upon Christmas-day sprouteth forth as well as in May.
1651. French, Distill., v. 117. Untill the Wheat begin to germinate, or to sprout forth.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 98, ¶ 1. Like Trees new lopped and pruned, that will certainly sprout up and flourish with greater Heads than before.
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 256. The remaining part of the herb must be mowed close to the ground; after which it continueth to sprout out again.
1842. Loudon, Suburban Hort., 686. If they are cut off close to the collar of the plant, it will sprout out again.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), I. 259. The young plants … are thus encouraged to sprout out.
fig. 1657. North’s Plutarch, Add. Lives (1676), 2. The Christians being settled in Peace again, the Church began to sprout out and flourish anew.
1743. J. Davidson, Æneid (1826), II. 135. Into so many shapes she turns herself,… with so many snakes the grim Fury sprouts up.
c. spec. To germinate, begin to grow, prematurely.
1685. Rector’s Bk. Clayworth (1910), 70. The Harvest was wett, wch caused our wheat to sprout.
1763. Mills, Pract. Husb., II. 305. The error of sowing wheat that had sprouted.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 213. Occasionally brushing off the eyes [of potatoes] if they have a tendency to sprout.
1860. All Year Round, No. 74. 560. To lift some corn that was sprouting in the field in consequence of wet weather.
1886. Pall Mall Gaz., 8 Nov., 2/2. Many a field of corn is sprouted which by a little more promptitude would have been saved with ease.
3. transf. Of earth, a surface, etc.: To bear, bring forth, or produce sprouts or sprout-like growths. Freq. const. with (a growth).
1591. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. Chaos, 555. The Night … Moistens our Aire, and makes our Earth to sprout.
1822–7. Good, Study Med. (1829), I. 479. Thus the strumous modifiction is sometimes found to have sprouted with fungous caruncles.
1854. Allingham, Day & N. Songs, Dirty Old Man, iii. The window sills sprouted with mildewy grass.
a. 1861. T. Winthrop, Love & Skates, 11 (Cent.). The soil of America seemed to sprout with coin, as after a shower a meadow sprouts with the yellow buds of the dandelion.
4. trans. To cause (branches, leaves, etc.) to grow or shoot; to bear or develop, to put or throw forth or out, as sprouts.
1601. Dolman, La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618), III. 793. These mountaine Pines sprout their branches out of their roote close to the earth.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 585. [These trees] are more lasting than those which sprout their leaues early or shed them betimes.
1733. W. Ellis, Chiltern & Vale Farm., 198. That will cause it in a little time to sprout out a small Radicle.
1818. Keats, Endym., I. 14. Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon For simple sheep.
1827. Hood, Mids. Fairies, ii. I … bade that bounteous season bloom again, And sprout fresh flowers in mine own domain.
b. transf. and fig.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, IV. i. 120. Wealth bred their pride; their pride sprouted ambition.
1659. Hammond, On Ps. ciii. 5. The new or young feathers, which the old Eagle yearly sprouts out.
1684. Contempl. St. Man, I. v. (1699), 52. The Earth … sprouts out Miseries and Deaths even of whole Cities.
1711. W. Sutherland, Shipbuild. Assist., 2. How curiously their Fins are furl’d up, and again sprouted out at pleasure.
1819. Lamb, Elia, Ser. I. On Acting of Muuden. When you think he has exhausted his battery of looks,… suddenly he sprouts out an entirely new set of features, like Hydra.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., XXI. iii. (1872), IX. 309. Several Lernean Hydras … getting their heads lopped off, and at the same time sprouting new ones.
† 5. refl. To divide or ramify. Obs.–1
1705. trans. Bosman’s Guinea, 426. This River sprouts it self into innumerable Branches.
6. a. To cause or induce (plants, seeds, etc.) to develop sprouts or shoots, esp. before planting or sowing them.
1770. A. Hunter’s Georg. Ess. (1803), I. 62. I have sprouted all kinds of grain in a variety of steeps.
1840. J. Buel, Farmer’s Companion, 248. Another mode of preventing failure … in the growth of certain seeds—and that is, by sprouting them before they are planted.
1895. Outing, XXVII. 18/2. The plants are sprouted within doors.
b. dial. and U.S. (See quot.)
1828. Carr, Craven Gloss., Sprout, to rub or break off the sprouts of potatoes.
1891. in Cent. Dict.
