spruce English · revision 1058

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spɹuːs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from ''Spruce'', an alteration of Middle English ''Pruce'' “Prussia”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[bor|xno|Pruz]], from [[la-med|Prussia]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) The tree was so called because it grew widely in Prussia and its timber came from there;^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) ''spruce'' was a general term for goods brought from the Baltic by Hanseatic merchants.^(Etymonline) The adjective “neat, smart” probably comes from ''spruce leather'', a fashionable leather imported from Prussia and used for jerkins.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As an adjective, “made of spruce (Prussian) wood” (1412);^(Barnhart 1995) the country of Prussia itself was called ''Spruce'' from 1378.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Goods from Prussia, such as boards, chests, beer and leather, were called ''spruce'',^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the tree name is recorded as a noun from 1670.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) Because Prussia was associated in Tudor England with fashionable clothes, the adjective came to mean “brisk, smart” (1589) and then “neat, trim” (1599),^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) with a verb “to make spruce” from 1594,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) later usually with ''up'' (1676).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1378 – ''Spruce'', Prussia.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1412 – adjective, made of spruce wood.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1466 – ''spruce leather'' jerkins (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1589 – adjective, brisk, smart, lively.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1594 – verb, to make spruce.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1599 – adjective, neat, trim.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1670 – the tree.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various [[evergreen]] [[conifer|alt=coniferous]] trees of the genus ''Picea'', with short needle-like leaves, hanging [[cone|alt=cones]] and soft wood used for paper pulp.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Any of various similar trees, such as the [[Douglas fir]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # The wood of any of these trees.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Neat, trim and smart in appearance; [[dapper]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make neat and smart, often with ''up''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To make oneself neat and smart, often with ''up''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sprucely]]

+ * [[spruceness]]

+ * [[spruce beer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Prussian]]

+ * [[fir]]

+ * [[pine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}