Etymologically
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sprinkle

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈspɹɪŋkəl/[1]

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

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