Etymograph

English

sprink

Sprink comes from Middle English spryngen ‘to spring, sprinkle’, from Old English springan ‘to leap, bound’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sperǵʰ- ‘to move energetically, hurry, spring’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sperǵʰ-1‘to move energetically, hurry, spring’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sprenǵʰ-1reconstructednasalised form of *sperǵʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*springaną2‘to spring, to jump up’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*springan2‘to spring, to jump up’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150springan2‘to leap, bound’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spryngen3‘to spring, sprinkle’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sprinken3variant of spryngen
  8. Englishtodaysprink3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *springaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English spryngen
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sprink

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sperǵʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *springaną‘to move energetically, hurry, spring’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sprenǵʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *springanąreconstructednasalised form of *sperǵʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*springanąWiktionary, Middle English spryngen‘to spring, to jump up’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*springanWiktionary, Middle English spryngen‘to spring, to jump up’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150springanWiktionary, Middle English spryngen‘to leap, bound’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spryngenWiktionary, English sprink‘to spring, sprinkle’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sprinkenWiktionary, English sprinkvariant of spryngen
  8. EnglishtodaysprinkWiktionary, English sprink

The story

Inherited from Middle English sprinken, variant of spryngen (‘to spring, sprinkle’) influenced by sprenkelen (‘to sprinkle’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *springaną ‘to spring, to jump up’

joker, 4 more

Today it means

verb To sprinkle; splash

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sprink”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *springaną, Middle English spryngen. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *sperǵʰ- / sprink

Shirt and support for this word