spruce

Meanings

Noun

• 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.
• Prussian leather; pruce.

Adjective

• Smart, trim, and elegant in appearance; fastidious (said of a person).

Verb

• To arrange neatly; tidy up.
• To make oneself spruce (neat and elegant in appearance).
• To tease.

Origin

• From Middle English Spruce, an alteration of Pruce, from Medieval Latin, from a 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.