sprinkle

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sprenklen, also spelled sprenkelen, sprinkle and springel,^[2][3] first seen before 1382 in the participle sprynkklyd.^[4] The OED takes it as apparently borrowed from Middle Dutch sprenkelen, found in besprenkelen and besprinkelen, itself apparently formed from sprengen with the suffix -elen.^[5] The MED reasons that, because most of the forms have -k-, the word was probably first taken from or suggested by Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, and later understood as sprengen or springen with a frequentative suffix.^[2] The AHD and the ODE call the Dutch origin possible,^[6][7] Collins probable,^[8] and Hoad and Skeat give it as perhaps from Dutch.^[9][10] Etymonline and Weekley instead take it as a frequentative of sprenge, the causative of spring, cognate with or influenced by the Dutch verb.^[11][12] It is related to Dutch sprenkelen (“to sprinkle”), German sprenkeln and to the nouns Middle Dutch sprenkel, Middle Low German sprenkel and Middle High German sprenkel (“spot, speck”),^[11][4][3] and Barnhart compares Swedish spräcklig (“speckled”).^[4] Merriam-Webster and Collins relate it to Old English spearca, the source of spark.^[13][8] Etymonline traces the group perhaps to Proto-Indo-European *(s)preg- (“to jerk, scatter”), also the source of Latin spargō (“to scatter, sprinkle”);^[11] Klein derives it from a nasalized form of *sper(e)g- (“to strew, sprinkle”) and relates it to sparse.^[3] The noun is partly an alteration of the older strinkle, perhaps after springel, and partly made from the verb; in the sense "spot" it was perhaps influenced by the Middle Dutch noun.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To mark with spots, and to scatter in drops: before 1382, implied in the participle used as an adjective in the Wycliffe Bible.^[4] The noun is as old: in the same Bible it names a device for sprinkling holy water.^[4][5] The OED's first record of the verb itself, to scatter liquid or powder in small drops, is in Mandeville's Travels (perhaps before 1425).^[5]

Semantic evolution

From scattering drops the verb passed to covering a surface with drops or particles (perhaps before 1425), to scattering things or people here and there (1518), to speckling with colour (1551), and to dotting a landscape or a text with something (1605).^[5] Tyndale used it in 1526 for cleansing or purifying, a sense that lasted until 1863,^[5] and Johnson (1755) still defined it with the Epistle to the Hebrews, "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience".^[14] From 1642 it was used, at first disparagingly, for baptizing by dripping water on the head,^[5] and slang dictionaries recorded sprinkle for "to christen".^[15] In American English it has meant "to rain lightly" since 1779 in the OED,^[5] 1778 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[4][11] The noun followed: a holy-water sprinkler, now only in holy-water sprinkle,^[16][5] a spot or speck (1481, in Caxton),^[5] a quantity sprinkled (1575),^[5] the act of sprinkling (1641, in Milton),^[4][13] and a light rain, in the OED from 1829 and in Barnhart from 1888.^[5][4] Sprinkles, tiny strands of chocolate or coloured sugar for decorating cakes and ice cream, are first recorded in North America in 1921.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1382 – participle, marked with spots; noun, a holy-water sprinkler, in the Wycliffe Bible.^[4][5]
• c. 1425 – to scatter liquid or powder in small drops.^[5]
• 1481 – noun, a spot, a speck (now rare).^[5]
• 1526 – to cleanse, purify (obsolete by 1863).^[5]
• 1551 – to speckle with a colour.^[5]
• 1575 – noun, a quantity sprinkled.^[5]
• 1641 – noun, an act of sprinkling.^[4][13]
• 1642 – to baptize by sprinkling.^[5]
• 1779 – to rain lightly (US); 1778 in Barnhart.^[5][4]
• 1829 – noun, a light rain.^[5]
• 1921 – sprinkles for decorating cakes and ice cream.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To scatter a liquid, powder or the like in small drops or particles: He sprinkled salt over the potatoes.^[8][13][5]
2. To cover a surface with small drops or particles of something: The lawn was sprinkled with dew.^[8][13][5]
3. To distribute things thinly or here and there: Cottages were sprinkled across the valley.^[8][13]
4. To drizzle, to rain lightly: It sprinkled for a few minutes after lunch.^[8][13][5]
5. (obsolete, 1526–1863) To cleanse or purify.^[5][14]

Noun

1. An act of sprinkling, or a small amount sprinkled.^[8][13][5]
2. A light rain; a drizzle.^[8][13][5]
3. sprinkles (plural): tiny pieces of chocolate or coloured sugar for decorating cakes and ice cream.^[5][13]
4. A small number or quantity scattered about: a sprinkle of lights on the hillside.^[13][5]

Word family

• sprinkler
• intersprinkle
• presprinkle
• unsprinkled
• besprinkle

Related words

• sprinkling
• spring
• sparse
• spark
• strinkle

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press