English
spree
Spree may come from French esprit ‘lively wit’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentesprit‘lively wit’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1880spree
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentesprit‘lively wit’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1880spree
Earliest quotation: 1880, Mark Twain pseudonym, Hartford: “Tradition says she spent the last two years of…”
The story
Perhaps [Barnhart] an alteration of French esprit (‘lively wit’) (see esprit). According to Klein, Irish spré seems to be a loan-word from Old Norse sprakr. Watkins proposes a possible origin as an alteration of Scots spreath (‘cattle raid’), from Gaelic sprédh, spré (‘cattle; wealth’), from Middle Irish preit, preid (‘booty’), ultimately from Latin praeda (‘plunder, booty’)”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- ‘to breathe’
spirituality, conspire, 48 more
through Latin spīrō ‘to breathe, draw breath, respire’
spiritual, conspiracy, respiratory, expire, aspiration, aspire, spire, aspirant, spiritus, 49 more
through Latin spiritus ‘air, breath, breathing’
through French esprit ‘lively wit’
Today it means
noun Uninhibited activity.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French esprit / spree