Online Etymology Dictionary

spring (v.): Old English springan "to leap, burst forth, fly up" (class III strong verb; past tense sprang, past participle sprungen), from Proto-Germanic *sprenganan (cf. Old Norse, Old Frisian springa, Middle Dutch springhen, Old High German springan, German springen), from PIE *sprengh- "rapid movement" (cf. Sanskrit sprhayati "desires eagerly," Greek sperkhesthai "to hurry").

In Middle English, it took on the role of causal sprenge, from Old English sprengan (as still in to spring a trap, etc.). Slang meaning "to pay" (for a treat, etc.) is recorded from 1906. Meaning "to announce suddenly" (usually with on) is from 1876. Meaning "to release" (from imprisonment) is from 1900.
spring (n.1): "season following winter," 1540s, earlier springing time (late 14c.), spring-time (late 15c.), spring of the year (1520s), which had replaced Old English Lent by late 14c. From spring (v.); also see spring (n.3). The notion is of the "spring of the year," when plants "spring up" (cf. spring of the leaf, 1530s).

Other Germanic languages tend to take words for "fore" or "early" as their roots for the season name, cf. Danish voraar, Dutch voorjaar, literally "fore-year;" German Frühling, from Middle High German vrueje "early." In 15c., the season also was prime-temps, after Old French prin tans, tamps prim (French printemps, which replaced primevère 16c. as the common word for spring), from Latin tempus primum, literally "first time, first season."

Spring fever was Old English lenctenadle; first record of spring cleaning is in 1857 (in ancient Persia, the first month, corresponding to March-April, was Adukanaiša, which apparently means "Irrigation-Canal-Cleaning Month;" Kent, p.167). Spring chicken "small roasting chicken" (usually 11 to 14 weeks) is recorded from 1780; transferred sense of "young person" first recorded 1906. Spring training first attested 1897.
spring (n.2): "source of a stream or river," Old English, from spring (v.) on the notion of the water "bursting forth" from the ground. Rarely used alone, appearing more often in compounds, e.g. wyllspring "wellspring." Figurative sense of "source or origin of something" is attested from early 13c.
spring (n.3): "act of springing or leaping," mid-15c., from spring (v.). The elastic coil that returns to its shape when stretched is so called from early 15c., originally in clocks and watches. As a device in carriages, coaches, etc., it is attested from 1660s. The oldest noun sense (c.1300) is a general one of "action or time of rising or springing into existence." It was used of sunrise, the waxing of the moon, rising tides, etc., and is preserved in spring (n.1).
springboard (n.): 1799, from spring (v.) + board (n.1).
springbok (n.): 1775, from Afrikaans, from spring "to leap" (from Middle Dutch springhen, see spring (v.)) + bok "antelope," from Middle Dutch boc (see buck (n.)).
springer (n.): type of spaniel, 1808, agent noun from spring (v.).
Springfield: type of firearm, 1813, named for the U.S. government armory in Springfield, Mass.
springtime (n.): late 15c., from spring (n.1) + time (n.).
springy (adj.): "elastic," 1650s, from spring (v.) + -y (2). Related: Springiness.
sprinkle (v.): late 14c. (implied in sprinkled), frequentative of sprenge (see spring (v.)) or via Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprenkel "spot, speck," from PIE root *(s)preg- "to jerk, scatter" (cf. Latin spargere "to scatter, sprinkle"). The meaning "rain lightly" is first recorded 1778. Related: Sprinkling.
sprinkler (n.): 1530s, agent noun from sprinkle (v.).
sprinkling (n.): "small amount," 1590s, verbal noun from sprinkle (v.).
sprint (v.): 1560s, "to spring, dart," from Old Norse spretta "to jump up." Meaning "to run a short distance at full speed" first recorded 1871. Related: Sprinted; sprinting.
sprint (n.): 1865, from sprint (v.).
sprit (n.): Old English spreot "pole," originally "a sprout, shoot, branch," from root of sprout. Cognate with Middle Dutch spriet, Middle Low German spryet, German spriet, North Frisian sprit.
sprite (n.): c.1300, from Old French esprit "spirit," from Latin spiritus (see spirit (n.)).
spritz: 1917, from Yiddish or German, literally "spray." Spritzer "glass of wine mixed with carbonated water" is from 1961.
sprocket: 1530s, originally a carpenters' word for a piece of timber used in framing, of unknown origin. The meaning "projection from the rim of a wheel that engages the links of a chain" is first recorded 1750.
sprout (v.): Old English -sprutan (in asprutan "to sprout"), from Proto-Germanic *spreutanan (cf. Old Saxon sprutan, Old Frisian spruta, Middle Dutch spruten, Old High German spriozan, German sprießen "to sprout"), from PIE root *sper- "to strew" (cf. Greek speirein "to scatter," spora "a scattering, sowing," sperma "sperm, seed," literally "that which is scattered;" Old English spreawlian "to sprawl," -sprædan "to spread," spreot "pole;" Armenian sprem "scatter;" Old Lithuanian sprainas "staring;" Lettish spriezu "I span, I measure"). Related: Sprouted; sprouting.
sprout (n.): "shoot of a plant, sprout; a twig," Old English sprota (see sprout (v.)).
spruce (n.): "evergreen tree," 1660s, from spruse (adj.) "made of spruce wood" (early 15c.), literally "from Prussia," from Spruce, Sprws (late 14c.), unexplained alterations of Pruce "Prussia," from an Old French form of Prussia. Spruce seems to have been a generic term for commodities brought to England by Hanseatic merchants (beer, board, leather, see spruce (v.)), and the tree was believed to have come from Prussia.
spruce (v.): 1590s, from the adjective meaning "to make trim or neat," from spruce leather (mid-15c., see spruce (n.)), which was used to make a popular style of jerkins in the 1400s that was considered smart-looking.
sprue (n.): c.1830, of unknown origin.
spruik: 1916, of unknown origin.
spry (adj.): 1746, dialectal, perhaps a shortening and alteration of sprightly, or from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse sprækr, dialectal Swedish sprygg "brisk, active"), from Proto-Germanic *sprek-, from PIE *(s)preg- "to jerk, scatter" (see sparse).
spud (n.): mid-15c., "small or poor knife," of uncertain origin probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjot "spear," German Spiess "spear, lance"). Meaning "spade" is from 1660s; sense of "short or stumpy person or thing" is from 1680s; that of "potato" is first recorded 1845 in New Zealand English.
spumante (n.): sparkling white wine from Asti in Piedmont, 1908, from Italian, literally "sparkling."
spume (n.): late 14c., from Old French spume, from Latin spuma "foam" (cf. Italian spuma, Spanish espuma); cognate with Old English fam, Old High German veim "foam" (see foam (n.)).
spumoni (n.): kind of ice cream dessert, 1929, from Italian spumone (singular), spumoni (plural), from spuma "foam," from Latin spuma (see spume).
spunk (n.): 1530s, "a spark," Scottish, from Gaelic spong "tinder, pith, sponge," from Latin spongia (see sponge). The sense of "courage, pluck, mettle" is first attested 1773. A similar sense evolution took place in cognate Irish sponnc "sponge, tinder, spark, courage, spunk." Vulgar slang sense of "seminal fluid" is recorded from c.1888.
spunky (adj.): "courageous, spirited," 1786, from spunk + -y (2).
spur (n.): Old English spura, spora (related to spurnan "to kick," see spurn), from Proto-Germanic *spuron (cf. Old Norse spori, Middle Dutch spore, Dutch spoor, Old High German sporo, German Sporn "spur"), from PIE *spere- "ankle" (see spurn).

Generalized sense of "anything that urges on, stimulus," is from late 14c. Meaning "a ridge projecting off a mountain mass" is recorded from 1650s. "Widely extended senses ... are characteristic of a horsey race." [Weekley] Expression on the spur of the moment (1801) preserves archaic phrase on the spur "in great haste" (1520s). To win one's spurs is to gain knighthood by some valorous act, gilded spurs being the distinctive mark of a knight.
spur (v.): c.1200, from spur (n.). Related: Spurred; spurring.
spurge (n.): plant species, late 14c., from Old French espurge, from espurgier "to purge," from Latin expurgare, from ex- "out" (see ex-) + purgare "to purge" (see purge). So called from the plant's purgative properties.
spurious (adj.): 1590s, "born out of wedlock," from Latin spurius "illegitimate, false" (cf. Italian spurio, Spanish espurio), from spurius (n.) "illegitimate child," probably from Etruscan spural "public." Sense of "having an irregular origin, not properly constituted" is from c.1600; that of "false, sham" is from 1610s.
spurn (v.): Old English spurnan "to kick (away), reject, scorn, despise," from Proto-Germanic *spurnanan (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German spurnan, Old Frisian spurna, Old Norse sporna "to kick"), from PIE root *spere- "ankle" (cf. Middle Dutch spoor "track of an animal," Greek sphyron "ankle," Latin spernere "to reject, spurn," Sanskrit sphurati "kicks," Middle Irish seir "heel"). Related: Spurned; spurning.
spurt (v.): "to gush out, squirt," 1570, variant of spirt, perhaps cognate with Middle High German spürzen "to spit," and sprützen "to squirt" (see sprout). The noun in this sense is attested from 1775.
spurt (n.): "brief burst of activity," 1560s, variant of spirt "brief period of time" (1540s), of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow connected with spurt (v.).
sputnik (n.): "artificial satellite," 1957 (launched Oct. 4, 1957), from Russian sputnik "satellite," literally "traveling companion," from Old Church Slavonic supotiniku, from su- "with, together" + poti "way, journey" (from PIE root *pent- "to go, pass;" see find (v.)) + agent suffix -nik.

The electrifying impact of the launch on the West can be gauged by the number of new formations in -nik around this time (the suffix had been present in a Yiddish context for at least a decade before); e.g. the dog launched aboard Sputnik 2 (Nov. 2, 1957), which was dubbed muttnik by the "Detroit Free Press," etc., and the U.S. satellite which failed to reach orbit in 1957 (because the Vanguard rocket blew up on the launch pad) derided as a kaputnik (in the "Daily Express"), a flopnik ("Daily Herald"), a puffnik ("Daily Mail"), and a stayputnik ("News Chronicle").
sputter (v.): 1590s, "to spit with explosive sounds," cognate with Dutch sputteren, West Frisian sputterje (see spout). Related: Sputtered; sputtering. The noun is attested from 1670s.
sputum: 1690s, from Latin sputum, noun use of neuter past participle of spuere "to spit" (see spew).
spy (v.): mid-13c., from Old French espier "to spy," probably from Frankish *spehon, from Proto-Germanic *spekh- (cf. Old High German *spehon "to look out for, scout, spy," German spähen "to spy," Middle Dutch spien), the Germanic survivals of the productive PIE root *spek- "to look" (see scope (n.1)).
spy (n.): mid-13c., "one who spies on another," From Old French espie, probably from a Germanic source (see spy (v.)).
spyglass (n.): also spy-glass, "telescope, field-glass," 1706, from spy (v.) + glass (n.).
spyware (n.): by 2000, from spy + ending from software in the computer sense.
squab (n.): 1680s, "very young bird," earlier (1630s) "unformed, lumpish person" and used at various times for any sort of flabby mass from sea slugs to sofa cushions; probably from a Scandinavian word (cf. dialectal Swedish skvabb "loose or fat flesh," skvabba "fat woman"), from Proto-Germanic *(s)kwab- (cf. Old Prussian gawabo "toad," Old Church Slavonic zaba "frog").
squabble (n.): c.1600, probably of imitative origin (cf. dialectal Swedish skvabbel "quarrel," dialectal German schwabbeln "to babble, prattle"). The verb is recorded from c.1600.
squad (n.): 1640s, "small number of military men detailed for some purpose," from French esquade, from Middle French escadre, from Spanish escuadra or Italian squadra "battalion," literally "square," from Vulgar Latin *exquadra (see square). Until the introduction of automatic weapons, infantry troops tended to fight in a square formation to repel cavalry or superior forces. Sports sense is recorded from 1902.
squadron (n.): 1560s, from Italian squadrone, augmentative of squadra "battalion" (see squad).