Etymograph

English

spree

Spree may come from French esprit ‘lively wit’.

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentesprit1‘lively wit’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1880spree1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English spree, which cites Barnhart, Klein, Watkins
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1880, Mark Twain pseudonym, Hartford: “Tradition says she spent the last two years of…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentespritWiktionary, English spree, which cites Barnhart, Klein, Watkins‘lively wit’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1880spreeWiktionary, English spree, which cites Barnhart, Klein, Watkins. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1880, Mark Twain pseudonym, Hartford: “Tradition says she spent the last two years of…”

The story

Perhaps [Barnhart] an alteration of French esprit (‘lively wit’) (see esprit). According to Klein, Irish spré seems to be a loan-word from Old Norse sprakr. Watkins proposes a possible origin as an alteration of Scots spreath (‘cattle raid’), from Gaelic sprédh, spré (‘cattle; wealth’), from Middle Irish preit, preid (‘booty’), ultimately from Latin praeda (‘plunder, booty’)”.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- ‘to breathe’

spirituality, conspire, 48 more

through Latin spīrō ‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’

spiritual, conspiracy, respiratory, expire, aspiration, aspire, spire, aspirant, spiritus, 49 more

through Latin spiritus ‘air, breath, breathing’

spirit, sprite, 39 more

through French esprit ‘lively wit’

esprit

Today it means

noun Uninhibited activity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spree”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / French esprit / spree

Shirt and support for this word