English word “Spruce” for coniferous tree comes from polish “z Prus”(from Prussia) – tall, strong and straight trunks of spruces were exported from Prussia and used as ship masts in medieval Europe

by kevin129795

4 comments

  1. It’s doubtful that it’s from Polish. Why would it be after all? Hanseatic traders who exported spruce were German speaking, not Polish. Linguists today give a different etymology:

    >From Middle English Spruce, an alteration of Pruce (“Prussia”), from Medieval Latin, from a Baltic 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)

  2. I heard about this, but thought it was merely one of several theories.

  3. We still need Kaliningrad to conquer all of old Prussia….

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