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Spruce

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Smart, dandified. Hall tells us it is a contraction of Prussian-like, à la Prusse, and gives the subjoined quotation:—

“After them came Si Edward Hayward, and with him Sir Thomas Parre, in doublets of crimson velvet, faced on the breast with chains of silver, and over that short cloaks of crimson satin, and on their heads hats after dancersʹ fashion, with feathers in them. They were apparelled after the fashion of Prussia or Spruce.”


⁂ In confirmation of this it may be mentioned that “Spruce leather” is certainly a corruption of Prussian leather; Spruce-beer is beer made from the Spruce or Prussian fir, and Danzig, in Prussia, is famous for the beverage.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Sport a Door or Oak
Sporting Seasons in England
Spouse (Spouze, 1 syl.)
Spout
Sprat
Spread-eagle (To)
Spread-eagle Oratory
Spring Gardens (London)
Spring Tide
Sprout-kele
Spruce
Spun (To be)
Spun Out
Spunging House
Spur Money
Spurs
Spy
Spy (of Vanity Fair)
Spy Wednesday
Squab Pie
Squad