sprint English · revision 10715

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1566|origins=non spretta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sprɪnt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably an alteration of Middle English sprenten, to leap, spring (before 1325),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from a Scandinavian source: compare [[bor|non|spretta|t=to jump up, spurt]] and dialectal Swedish sprinta, to jump, hop.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart relates these to Old English spyrd, race course, and Sanskrit spárdhate, he contends.^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad calls its ultimate origin unknown.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To spring or dart: 1566, a sense now obsolete.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In dialect a sprint was a bound or spring (the late 18th century).^(NODE 1998)^(OED 1989) The sporting sense, to run at full speed for a short distance, is from the 19th century,^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) implied in sprinted by 1851.^(Etymonline) The noun, a short burst of full-speed running, is from 1848, probably short for sprint race (by 1836),^(Etymonline) 1865 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – sprenten, to leap.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1566 – to dart (obsolete).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * by 1836 – sprint race.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – a sprint (noun).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1851 – sprinted.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short [[race]] run at top speed, such as the 100 metres.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A burst of speed, as at the end of a longer race.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To run or move at top speed for a short distance.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sprinter]]

+ * [[outsprint]]

+ * [[sprint car]]

+ * [[wind sprint]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spurt]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}