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Origin and history of spurt

spurt(v.)

"to gush out, squirt," 1560s, said to be a variant of spirt, itself of obscure origin, perhaps related to Middle High German spürzen "to spit," and sprützen "to squirt" (see sprout (v.)), perhaps ultimately imitative. Related: Spurted; spurting. The noun in this sense is attested from 1775.

spurt(n.)

"brief burst or outbreak of some activity," 1590s, variant of spirt "brief period of time" (1540s), which is of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with spurt (v.).

also from 1590s

Entries linking to spurt

sprout(v.)

Middle English sprouten, "to spring forth; grow, shoot forth as a bud," from Old English -sprutan (in asprutan "to sprout"), from Proto-Germanic *sprut- (source also of Old Saxon sprutan, Old Frisian spruta, Middle Dutch spruten, Old High German spriozan, German sprießen "to sprout").

According to Watkins this is from PIE *spreud-, extended form of root *sper- "to strew" (perhaps also the source of Old English spreawlian "to sprawl," sprædan "to spread," spreot "pole;" Armenian sprem "scatter;" Old Lithuanian sprainas "staring, opening wide one's eyes;" Lettish spriežu "I span, I measure").

The transitive sense of "produce by sprouting" is from c. 1600. Related: Sprouted; sprouting.

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    Trends of spurt

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    forge
    late 14c., "a smithy," from Old French forge "forge, smithy" (12c.), earlier faverge, from Latin fabrica "workshop, smith's shop," hence also "a trade, an industry;" also "a skillful production, a crafty device," from faber (genitive fabri) "workman in hard materials, smith" (see
    gush
    c. 1400, "to rush out suddenly and forcefully" (of blood, water, etc.), probably formed imitatively in English or from Low German, or from or based on Old Norse gusa "to gush, spurt," from PIE *gus-, from root *gheu- "to pour," and thus related to geyser. Metaphoric sense of "spe
    spout
    "issue forcibly; spit out" as a liquid, early 14c., spouten, a common Germanic word, ultimately imitative, related to Middle Dutch spoiten "to spout" (Dutch spuiten "to flow, spout"), North Frisian spütji "spout, squirt," Swedish sputa "to spout," from Proto-Germanic *sput- (from
    jet
    1690s, "to sprout or spurt forth, shoot out," from French jeter "to throw, thrust," from Late Latin iectare (abstracted from...
    bleed
    *blodjan "emit blood" (source also of Old Norse blæða, Dutch bloeden, German bluten), from PIE *bhlo-to- "swell, gush, spurt...
    flush
    The sense of "spurt, rush out suddenly, flow with force" (1540s, usually of water) probably is the same word, with the connecting...
    travel
    late 14c., "to journey," from travailen (1300) "to make a journey," originally "to toil, labor" (see travail). The semantic development may have been via the notion of "go on a difficult journey," but it also may reflect the difficulty of any journey in the Middle Ages. Replaced
    pour
    "to cause (liquid or granular substance) to flow or stream either out of a vessel or into one," c. 1300, of unknown origin. Not in Old English; perhaps from Old French (Flanders dialect) purer "to sift (grain), pour out (water)," from Latin purare "to purify," from purus "pure" (
    urn
    late 14c., "large, rounded vase used to preserve the ashes of the dead," from Latin urna "a jar, vessel of baked clay, water-jar; vessel for the ashes of the dead" (also used as a ballot box and for drawing lots), probably from earlier *urc-na, akin to urceus "pitcher, jug," and

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