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Today it means

sprint

to run at full speed over a short distance

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Where does the word "sprint" come from? It comes from Old Norse spretta, and was adopted directly into English (1560s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "sprint" come from? It comes from Old Norse spretta, and was adopted directly into English (1560s).

Sprint’s story begins in Old Norse: spretta meant “to spring, to leap.” Related to Swedish 'sprinta', to jump; athletics sprinting dates from the 1800s. It reached English by 1560s as sprint. Settled as the English word for running at full speed over a short distance. Today, sprint means to run at full speed over a short distance.

  1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval spretta "to spring, to leap", related to Swedish 'sprinta', to jump; athletics sprinting dates from the 1800s.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1560s sprint "to run at full speed over a short distance", settled as the English word for running at full speed over a short distance.

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