Meaning and Origin
What does the name Spring mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Spring
User Submitted Origins
English
82%
American
18%
User Submitted Meanings
- According to a user from Virginia, U.S., the name Spring is of American origin and means "New beginings, colorful, bright or bubbly, happy and joyous".
- According to a user from Kentucky, U.S., the name Spring is of American origin and means "New beginnings".
- According to a user from Texas, U.S., the name Spring is of English origin and means "The Season".
- A submission from Texas, U.S. says the name Spring means "A Season" and is of English origin.
- According to a user from Connecticut, U.S., the name Spring means "Love".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
verb Spring
Senses
- To leap; to bound; to jump."The mountain stag that springs From height to height, and bounds along the plains." [Philips.]
- To issue with speed and violence; to move with activity; to dart; to shoot."And sudden light Sprung through the vaulted roof." [Dryden.]
- To start or rise suddenly, as from a covert."Watchful as fowlers when their game will spring." [Otway.]
- To fly back; as, a bow, when bent, springs back by its elastic power.
- To bend from a straight direction or plane surface; to become warped; as, a piece of timber, or a plank, sometimes springs in seasoning.
- To shoot up, out, or forth; to come to the light; to begin to appear; to emerge; as a plant from its seed, as streams from their source, and the like; -- often followed by up forth, or out."Till well nigh the day began to spring." [Chaucer.]"To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth." [Job xxxviii. 27.]"Do not blast my springing hopes." [Rowe.]"O, spring to light; auspicious Babe, be born." [Pope.]
- To issue or proceed, as from a parent or ancestor; to result, as from a cause, motive, reason, or principle."They found] new hope to spring Out of despair, joy, but with fear yet linked." [Milton.]
- To grow; to thrive; to prosper."What makes all this, but Jupiter the king, At whose command we perish, and we spring?" [Dryden.]
Etymology: AS. springan; akin to D. & G. springen, OS. & OHG. springan, Icel. & Sw. springa, Dan. springe; cf. Gr. spe`rchesqai to hasten. Cf. Springe Sprinkle
verb Spring
Senses
- To cause to spring up; to start or rouse, as game; to cause to rise from the earth, or from a covert; as, to spring a pheasant.
- To produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; as, to spring a surprise on someone; to spring a joke."She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light." [Dryden.]"The friends to the cause sprang a new project." [Swift.]
- To cause to explode; as, to spring a mine.
- To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as, to spring a mast or a yard.
- To cause to close suddenly, as the parts of a trap operated by a spring; as, to spring a trap.
- To bend by force, as something stiff or strong; to force or put by bending, as a beam into its sockets, and allowing it to straighten when in place; -- often with in out, etc.; as, to spring in a slat or a bar.
- To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence.
- To release (a person) from confinement, especially from a prison.(colloquial)
noun Spring
Senses
- A leap; a bound; a jump."The prisoner, with a spring, from prison broke." [Dryden.]
- A flying back; the resilience of a body recovering its former state by its elasticity; as, the spring of a bow.
- Elastic power or force."Heavens! what a spring was in his arm!" [Dryden.]
- An elastic body of any kind, as steel, India rubber, tough wood, or compressed air, used for various mechanical purposes, as receiving and imparting power, diminishing concussion, regulating motion, measuring weight or other force.
- Any source of supply; especially, the source from which a stream proceeds; an issue of water from the earth; a natural fountain."All my springsare in thee."Ps. lxxxvii. 7."A secret springof spiritual joy."Bentley."The sacred springwhence right and honor streams." [Sir J. Davies.]
- Any active power; that by which action, or motion, is produced or propagated; cause; origin; motive."Our author shuns by vulgar springs to move The hero's glory, or the virgin's love." [Pope.]
- That which springs, or is originated, from a source;as:
- A race; lineage.
(Obs)
Chapman. - A youth; a springal.
(Obs)
Spenser. - A shoot; a plant; a young tree; also, a grove of trees; woodland.
(Obs)
Spenser. Milton.
- A race; lineage.
- That which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively tune.(Obs)
- The season of the year when plants begin to vegetate and grow; the vernal season, usually comprehending the months of March, April, and May, in the middle latitudes north of the equator."The green lap of the new-come spring." [Shak.]
- The time of growth and progress; early portion; first stage; as, the spring of life."The springof the day." [1 Sam. ix. 26.]"O how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glory of an April day." [Shak.]
- [Naut]
- A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely.
- A line led from a vessel's quarter to her cable so that by tightening or slacking it she can be made to lie in any desired position; a line led diagonally from the bow or stern of a vessel to some point upon the wharf to which she is moored.
- A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely.
Note: ☞ The principal varieties of springs used in mechanisms are the spiral springFig. a), the coil springFig. b), the elliptic springFig. c), the half-elliptic springFig. d), the volute spring, the India-rubber spring, the atmospheric spring, etc.
Note: ☞ Spring of the astronomical year begins with the vernal equinox, about March 21st, and ends with the summer solstice, about June 21st.
Etymology: AS. spring a fountain, a leap. See Spring (v. i.)
Other Dictionary Sources
- A light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
- A metal elastic device that returns to its shape or position when pushed or pulled or pressed ("the spring was broken")
- The elasticity of something that can be stretched and returns to its original length
- A point at which water issues forth
- A natural flow of ground water
- The season of growth ("the emerging buds were a sure sign of spring" and "he will hold office until the spring of next year")
- Develop suddenly
- Produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly
- Spring back; spring away from an impact
- Move forward by leaps and bounds
- Develop into a distinctive entity
Wiktionary
- A surname.
- Spring, the season of warmth and new vegetation following winter
Spring was also found in the following language(s): Hunsrik