spruit, noun
- Forms:
- Also sproot.
- Origin:
- Dutch, AfrikaansShow more Dutch (later Afrikaans), ‘offshoot’.
a. A small stream or watercourse, usually containing little or no water except in the rainy season; sprout. Also attributive.
1832 Graham’s Town Jrnl 13 Apr. 62They were joined by Lieut. Warden and his party..who had been ordered to come over the back of the mountains and rendezvous at the spruits of the Keiskamma.
1991 Best of S. Afr. Short Stories (Reader’s Digest Assoc.) 277There are many words for watercourses of varying size and flow...A spruit is a tributary feeding a larger stream, and for much of the year usually has a dry bed.
b. An element in place names.
1850 N.J. Merriman Cape Jrnls (1957) 135We found ourselves, just after sundown, at Carl Spruit (a small stream), about ten miles this side of Bloemfontein.
1988 O. Oberholzer Ariesfontein to ZuurfonteinThis idea came to me — a pictorial journey from Ariesfontein to Zuurfontein. Sure, I admit, it could have been place names ending in ‘spruit’ or ‘kraal’ or ‘berg’.
A small stream or watercourse, usually containing little or no water except in the rainy season; sprout. Also attributive.
An element in place names.
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