English
sprat
Sprat comes from Old English sprot ‘sprout, shoot, twig’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sprot‘sprout, shoot, twig’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sprotte
- Englishearliest quotation 1859sprat
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sprot‘sprout, shoot, twig’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sprotte
- Englishearliest quotation 1859sprat
Earliest quotation: 1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant: “The price of a case (five shillings piece bad)…”
The story
Older source is unknown.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Every English word from Old English sprot
Today it means
noun Any of various small, herring-like, marine fish in the genus Sprattus, in the family Clupeidae.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English sprot / sprat