Spray

How to spell spray

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce spray

What does spray mean?

1. nounLiquid sent through the air in many tiny droplets, or a container that produces this.
2. verbTo apply a liquid as fine droplets over a surface.
3. nounA small branch or stem with leaves or flowers, often arranged for display.

Spray in a sentence

• noun

  A fine spray of sea water settled on the windscreen.

• verb

  Workers will spray the fence with fresh paint tomorrow.

• noun

  She pinned a spray of white roses to her jacket for the wedding.

• noun

  She kept a bottle of insect spray in the kitchen drawer.

• verb

  Remember to spray the roses before the heat of the day.

• noun

  A delicate spray of holly decorated the mantelpiece.

Where does spray come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

The droplet sense of spray appears in English in the mid 1600s and is generally traced to a Middle Dutch or Low German word like sprayen or spraien, meaning 'to sprinkle' or 'to scatter in fine drops'. That family is closely tied to the same spreading idea found in the native English words spread and sprinkle, all sharing the productive spr- cluster that English uses for things flung outward. A quite separate and older spray, meaning a small leafy or flowering branch, comes down from Old English and is a relative of sprig; over time the two words sat comfortably together under one spelling. Because the modern word is spelled exactly as it sounds, with the everyday -ay ending shared by play, day, and stay, it gives writers very little trouble. Its main use today, for liquids driven through the air in tiny droplets, only grew widespread once pressurised cans and garden sprayers made the action a daily one.

How the word is built

• spray (single root, no affixes); the spr- cluster also appears in related sprinkle and spread