sprint

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sprɪnt/^[1]

Etymology

It is probably an alteration of Middle English sprenten, to leap, spring (before 1325),^[2][3] from a Scandinavian source: compare borrowed from Old Norse spretta (“to jump up, spurt”) and dialectal Swedish sprinta, to jump, hop.^[2][3][4][5] Barnhart relates these to Old English spyrd, race course, and Sanskrit spárdhate, he contends.^[2] Hoad calls its ultimate origin unknown.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To spring or dart: 1566, a sense now obsolete.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In dialect a sprint was a bound or spring (the late 18th century).^[7][6] The sporting sense, to run at full speed for a short distance, is from the 19th century,^[5][3] implied in sprinted by 1851.^[3] The noun, a short burst of full-speed running, is from 1848, probably short for sprint race (by 1836),^[3] 1865 in the OED.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1325 – sprenten, to leap.^[2]
• 1566 – to dart (obsolete).^[2][6]
• by 1836 – sprint race.^[3]
• 1848 – a sprint (noun).^[3]
• 1851 – sprinted.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A short race run at top speed, such as the 100 metres.
2. A burst of speed, as at the end of a longer race.

Verb

1. To run or move at top speed for a short distance.

Word family

• sprinter
• outsprint
• sprint car
• wind sprint

Related words

• spurt

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press