wikipedia
see|Spruce
English
Image:Picea_abies.jpg|thumb|right|200px| Picea abies, a species of spruce (1)

Etymology
From an alteration of Pruce ("w:Prussia|Prussia"); Spruce, spruse (1412), and Sprws (1378) were generic terms for commodities brought to England by w:Hanseatic League|Hanseatic merchants (beer, wood, leather). The tree with this name was also believed to have been native to Prussia. The adjective and verb senses ("trim, neat" and "to make trim, neat") are attested from 1594, and originate with spruce leather (1466), which was used to make a popular style of jerkins in the 1400s that was considered smart-looking.

Pronunciation
:*Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-u�s|-u�s

Noun
en-noun

1. Any of various large coniferous evergreen trees from the genus Picea, found in northern temperate and boreal regions; originally and more fully spruce fir.
2. The wood of a spruce.

Translations
trans-top|tree from the genus Picea
Chinese: ��, ��
Czech: smrk m
Dutch: spar m
Erzya: к�з (kuz)
Estonian: kuusk
Finnish: kuusi
French: épicéa m italbrac|France, épinette f italbrac|Quebec
German: Fichte f
Greek: ε��θ�ελά�η n
Italian: abete rosso m
trans-mid
Japanese: ���
Korean: �문� �무
Northern Sami: guossa
Novial: abiete
Portuguese: abeto vermelho m
Russian: ел� (jel�) f
Slovene: smreka f
Spanish: picea f
trans-bottom

trans-top|wood of a spruce
Czech: smrk m
Dutch: spar m, sparrenhout n
Finnish: kuusi
trans-mid
Russian: ел� (jel�) f
trans-bottom

Adjective
en-adj|spruc|er

1. notcomp Made of the wood from a spruce.
2. comparable smart|Smart, trim, and elegant in appearance; fastidious (said of a person).

Translations
rfc-level|Translations at L4+ not in L3 POS section
trans-top|made of the wood from a spruce
Finnish: kuusipuinen, kuusi|kuusesta
trans-mid
Russian: елов�й (jelóvyj)
trans-bottom

trans-top|smart and elegant
Finnish: tyylikäs
trans-mid
Russian: на��дн�й (nar'ádnyj), �леган�н�й (el'egántnyj), из��н�й (iz'áš'nyj), �еголева��й (š'egol'evátyj)
trans-bottom

Verb
en-verb

1. (usually with up) to arrange neatly; tidy up
2. (usually with up) to make oneself spruce (neat and elegant in appearance)

Derived terms
spruce up

References
R:Online Etymology Dictionary

Category:Trees

fr:spruce
io:spruce
pl:spruce
ru:spruce
fi:spruce
te:spruce
vi:spruce

• 2007-10-24 21:09 - Thisis0 -

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