spruit

From Afrikaans spruit. Doublet of sprout.

spruit (plural spruits)

1. (South Africa) A small headstream; a stream flowing through a village, dry in summer.
   • 1901 October 11, Colonel F. V. Corbett, “Report on Irrigation in Natal”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record‎, volume 4, number 16, page 489:

     Though there is such a poor prospect for public irrigation schemes, the country seems, on the whole, fairly well watered in years of normal rainfall, and there are many springs and "spruits," or rivulets, more or less permanent.

• purist, stir up, tripus, uprist, upstir

From Dutch spruit, from Middle Dutch sprute. Cognate with English sprite, sprout.

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spruit (plural spruite, diminutive spruitjie)

1. (geography) stream or small river; river branch

• Especially used in toponyms.

From Middle Dutch sprute, spruut, spruyte, from Old Dutch *sprūtan. Cognate with English sprite, sprout.

• IPA^(key): /sprœy̯t/

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• Hyphenation: spruit
• Rhymes: -œy̯t

spruit f (plural spruiten, diminutive spruitje n)

1. (botany) a sprout, shoot, a branch-like part of a plant which grows from the rest
2. a child, seen as a parent's offspring, usually said of a minor
3. (construction) a style or beam which rests on another
4. a branch of a plumbing pipe, rope etc.
5. (geography) a small river, river branch, especially used in South African toponyms

• bladspruit
• spruitje (“Brussels sprout”)
• spruitkool
• spruitzwam

• Afrikaans: spruit
• → Papiamentu: sprùit, spreit, spruitsje, spruit
• → Sranan Tongo: sproiti

spruit

1. inflection of spruiten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

• M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition)