spruce1
adj.
neat and smart.
v.
(
spruce someone/thing up)
make a person or place smarter.
Derivative
- sprucely adv.
- spruceness n.
Etymology
C16: perh. from spruce2 in the obs. sense ‘Prussian’, in the phr. spruce (leather) jerkin.
spruce2
n.
a widespread coniferous tree which has a distinctive conical shape and hanging cones, grown for wood, pulp, and Christmas trees.
[Genus
Picea: many species.]
Etymology
ME (denoting Prussia or something originating in Prussia): alt. of obs. Pruce ‘Prussia’.
spruce3
v.
Brit. informal, dated engage in pretence, especially by feigning illness.
Derivative
Etymology
early 20th cent.: of unknown origin.
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