Etymology From Middle English sprig, sprigge, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle Low German sprik, spricke (“a dry, easily broken twig that has fallen from a tree; sprig”). Compare also dialectal English sprag (“sprig, twig”), English spray (“branch”), Old English spræc (“a shoot”), German Low German Spricke, Sprick (“dry branch, twig”).
A small shoot or twig of a tree or other plant; a spray.
a sprig of laurel or of parsley
[…] from this bush in the dooryard, / With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green, / A sprig with its flower I break.1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:
1 more example
“Why, one sprig of nut grass can ruin a whole yard.[…]"1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
2
An ornament resembling a small shoot or twig.
3
One of the separate pieces of lace fastened on a ground in applique lace.
a sprig whom I remember, with a whey-face and a satchel, not so many years ago1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English sprig, sprigge, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle Low German sprik, spricke (“a dry, easily broken twig that has fallen from a tree; sprig”). Compare also dialectal English sprag (“sprig, twig”), English spray (“branch”), Old English spræc (“a shoot”), German Low German Spricke, Sprick (“dry branch, twig”).
1
To decorate with sprigs, or with representations of sprigs, as in embroidery or pottery.