noun, verb — 10 senses
/spɹaɪt/
Etymology From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, spright, and esprit. (computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s. (meteorology): An acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.
› Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined:
Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences A spirit; a soul; a shade.
Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences An apparition; a ghost.
Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences An elf, fairy, or goblin; one with a small humanlike physical body.
Computer graphics, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene.
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences A large electrical discharge that occurs high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm, which appears as a luminous red or orange flash.
The green woodpecker, or yaffle (Picus viridis).
Biology, Entomology, Natural sciences Any of various African damselflies of the genus Pseudagrion (of which, Australian species are named riverdamsels).
A spayed female ferret.
Alternative, Obsolete Alternative form of spright (“frame of mind, disposition”).
Etymology From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, spright, and esprit. (computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s. (meteorology): An acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.
Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.