Etymology

The etymology of this word, and the likelihood of some ON input, depends largely on the interpretation of its connection to closely related forms: (1) OED (followed by MED, GDS) separates a rarer form sprit (its v.2, with the occurrence in Gaw as the only ME attestation) from the more common sprit (its v.1) ‘to sprout or shoot, to germinate’ and considers its etymology obscure, but compares spirt (its v.3) ‘to make a spurt; to turn or dart about quickly; to exert oneself for a short time’ (recorded from 1599 on) and the related (and similarly obscure) spirt n.2, spurt n.1. (2) OE spryttan ‘to sprout, come forth, spring, germinate, yield fruit; incite’ (cp. LG sprutten, MHG sprützen < PGmc *sprutjan-, a zero-grade derivation on the str. v. represented by OE *sprūtan (attested pp. āsproten) ‘to sprout’) could be the source of both sprit- ‘sprout’ and sprit- ‘spring’. Variation between sprit- and spirt-/spurt- forms is also found for words meaning ‘sprout’ (etc.); cp. OED’s sprit v.1 and what seem to be metathetic variants spirt v.2 ‘to sprout or germinate, esp. abnormally or unsreasonably; to shoot up in growth’ and spurt v.2 ‘to sprout or shoot’. In this case, the original sense of (sudden, quick) growth (of vegetation) would be transferred to quick movement more generally (incl. of humans) (thus perhaps Kullnick 10 and TGD, and partly MED and Emerson 1922: 407). (3) Additional input has also been suggested from ON spretta, i.e. the wk. v. OIcel spretta (< *sprenta < *sprantjan-) ‘to make spring up, unloose; rip up’ (with which cp. further OHG sprenzen ‘to support’?) or str. OIcel spretta (< *sprenta) ‘to spurt out; start, spring; sprout, grow’ (perh. cp. MHG sprinzen ‘to break forth, to shine’); in that case, sprit would be the counterpart to sprent, but showing OWN assimilation. (4) Alternatively, Knigge (77) suggests derivation directly from ON, viz. sprita, cp. OIcel sprita ‘to sprawl’ (attested once only by ONP), Icel sprita ‘to stretch out; jump’, Far sprita ‘to stretch out’, Norw sprita ‘to spread’, Ger spritzen ‘splash, spray’.  This *sprit(t)- is best explained as an iterative formation (so Kroonen) on the PGmc root *sprīð- ‘to break up, become scattered’, as in OHG sprītan, MHG underspriten ‘interposed’, of which *spraiðjan- is the causative. The basic sense of this word-family, i.e. ‘spread, stretch, scatter’, is not quite as immediately appealing for the context at Gaw 2316 as are the words cited at (2) and (3) above; but a development to ‘to stretch, spread (oneself) across space’ and hence ‘to jump’ is conceivable, and apparently paralleled by the meanings of the MnIcel v. 

PGmc Ancestor

(2) *sprutjan-; (3) *sprantjan-; (4) *sprīð-  

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

(3) spretta ‘to make spring up, unloose; rip up’; (4) sprita ‘to sprawl 
(ONP (3) spretta (1) (vb.) and (2) (vb.); (4)  sprita (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

(3) Far spretta, Icel spretta, Norw spretta, Dan sprætte, Sw spritta, sprätta, Sw dial sprinta; (4) Far sprita, Icel sprita, Norw sprita

OE Cognate

(2) spryttan ‘to sprout, come forth, spring, germinate, yield fruit; incite’

Phonological and morphological markers

ON consonant cluster assimilation

Summary category

DD1c

Attestation

MED records the word in this sense only from Gaw and OED adds an instance from 1836 and a possible one from 1567; on dial usage see further EDD  (Shetl. and Nott.) and Thorson 79.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2316

Bibliography

MED spritten (v.2) , OED sprit (v.2) , HTOED , EDD sprit (v.), Dance sprit; (1) OED spirt (v.3) ; (2) OED sprit (v.1) , MED spritten (v.1) , Seebold sprūt-a-, AEW spryttan; (3) de Vries spretta (1) and (2), Mag. spretta (3) and (4), Bj-L sprette, Seebold sprent-a-, Orel *sprantjanan; *sprentanan; (4) de Vries sprita, Mag. sprita (2), Kroonen *sprit(t)ōn-