spruce
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
spruce¹
- /spɹuːs/ US
- /spɹʉs/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
Rhymes with -uːs
Where it comes from
From Middle English Spruce, an alteration of Pruce (“Prussia”), from Medieval Latin, from a Baltic language, probably Old Prussian; for more, see Prussia. Spruce, spruse (1412), and Sprws (1378) were terms for commodities brought to England by 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.
noun spruces · spruce
- Any of various large coniferous evergreen trees or shrubs from the genus Picea, found in northern temperate and boreal regions; originally and more fully spruce fir.
- The wood of a spruce.
- Made of the wood of the spruce. That spruce table is beautiful!
- Prussian leather; pruce.
adjective sprucer · sprucest
-
Smart, trim, and elegant in appearance; fastidious (said of a person).
Hovv often vvould the Svvaines prepare their Morrice & their May / To haue a ſight of her, vvhen all enamoured vvent their vvay? / The ſprevvſeſt Citie-Lads for her vvould faine the Countrie-aire, / And that their prouder Girles had but adultrate beauties ſvvaire, […]
Similar: pulchritudinous
Spruce²
Where it comes from
For Prussia, an alteration of Pruce; see that entry and spruce for more.
proper noun
- Prussia.
- A surname.
- An unincorporated community in Caledonia Township, Alcona County, Michigan.
- A township in Roseau County, Minnesota, named for spruce trees there.
- An unincorporated community in Bates County, Missouri.
- A town and unincorporated community therein, in Oconto County, Wisconsin.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: smart, titivate, smarten up, spiff up, tittivate, spruce up, natty, fashionable, dashing, dapper, stylish, snappy, raffish, rakish, jaunty, slick up
Translations
Every language
noun tree from the genus Picea
| Español | pícea |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 가문비나무 gamunbinamu |
| 日本語 | 唐檜 tōhi |
| 中文 | 雲杉 /云杉 yúnshān |
| Kiswahili | msprusi |
| Português | abeto vermelho, pícea, espruce |
| Français | épicéa, épinette |
| Deutsch | Fichte |
| Italiano | abete rosso, peccio |
| Ελληνικά | ερυθρελάτη erythreláti |
| Română | molid |
| Русский | ель jelʹ, ёлка jólka |
| Tiếng Việt | vân sam |
| العربية | تَنُّوب tannūb |
| עברית | אשוחית |
noun wood of a spruce
| Português | pícea, abeto vermelho |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Fichtenholz |
| Română | molid |
| Русский | ель jelʹ |
noun attributive: made of the wood of the spruce
| Русский | ело́вый jelóvyj |
|---|
adj smart and elegant
| Русский | наря́дный narjádnyj, элега́нтный elegántnyj, изя́щный izjáščnyj, щеголева́тый ščegolevátyj |
|---|
Talk about this word "spruce." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spruce. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. spruce. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spruce "spruce." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spruce.Cite this
@misc{spruce_2026,
title = {spruce},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spruce},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
