Sput
German
Etymology
The inherited continuation of Middle High German spuot (“success”), from Old High German spuot, from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi, is still attested a few times in Early Modern German. Later use, however, entirely follows Low German Spood, from Middle Low German spôt, also from the West Germanic. See sputen for more.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃpuːt/
Noun
Sput f (genitive Sput, no plural)
- (very rare) haste, hurry, rush
- Hast und Sput tut selten gut.
- Haste and rush are seldom good.
- (very rare, obsolete) success
- Je größer Hast, je minder Sput.
- More haste, less speed.
Usage notes
- Found exclusively in Standard German renderings of certain Low German proverbs and idioms such as the above. The sense “haste” is intelligible because of the related verb sputen, whereas the sense “success” requires special knowledge of Low German.
Related terms
- sputen