Sprig
/sprɪɡ/noun
A small twig or shoot of a plant; by extension, a little branch or decorative offshoot.
Did you know?Sprig is part of the same ancient word-family as Sanskrit sphurjati and Latin spargere-like forms are often compared in older scholarship, but the secure history here is Germanic: it comes from a North Sea Germanic word for a small branch or shoot, not a mystical term despite its plant-life aura.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*sprek- / *sprik-
“a shoot, twig, or small branch”
Old Norse
ON
sprekkr
“a twig or small branch”
Middle Dutch
MDu
spricke
“a small branch, sprig”
Middle English
ME
sprigge
“a small twig or branch”
Modern English
English
sprig
“a small twig, shoot, or decorative little branch”