Spruce | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Spruce, a.

adjective

a. [compar. SPRUCER; superl. SPRUCEST.] [Perhaps from spruce, a sort of leather from Prussia, which was an article of finery. Cf. also Prov. Ger. spreussen, spreuzen, sprüssen, sprutzen, H. Ger. spreizen, to prop, to boast of, gespreizt, gespreizt, stiff, prim, boasting. See infra.] Neat, without elegance or dignity;—formerly applied to things with a serious meaning, now chiefly applied to persons. “Now, my spruce companions.” Shak.

He is so spruce that he never can be genteel. Tatler.

Synonyms—Finical; neat; trim. See FINICAL.

Spruce, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. SPRUCED (sprūst); p. pr. & vb. n. SPRUCING.] To dress with affected neatness; to trim; to make spruce.

Spruce, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To dress one's self with affected neatness.

Spruce, n.

noun

n. [O. Eng. Spruce or Pruse, Prussia, Prussian; so named because it was first known as a native of Prussia. “For masts those [firs] from Prussia (which we call spruce) and Norway are the best.” Evelyn.]

Sense 1. (Bot.) A coniferous tree of the genus Abies, especially the species Abies excelsa, or Norway spruce, a native of the north of Europe;—applied in the United States to A. Canadensis, the hemlock spruce, and to A. nigra and A. alba, sprigs of which are sometimes used to give flavor to beer, as well as to the Norway spruce, cultivated for ornament.

Sense 2. Prussia leather; pruce;—called also spruce-leather. [Obs.] “Spruce, a sort of leather corruptly so called for Prussia leather.” Phillips.

An illustration of a tall Norway spruce with a deer standing at its base. — Norway Spruce (*Abies excelsa*).