Sprouten

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic past participle meaning that a plant or seed has already put out new shoots or buds
2. Old-fashioned form describing something that has already germinated and sent up young growth
3. Archaic participle indicating that a seedling or plant has previously developed fresh green shoots

Etymology: "Sprouten" is an older past participle of "sprout," the verb meaning to put forth shoots. It belongs to the strong verb pattern, where the past form changes its vowel and takes an "-en" ending, as in "shaken" or "driven." The verb descends from Old English "sprūtan," and its participle "sprūten" carried that "-en" ending into Middle English as "sprouten." Over the centuries, the regular "-ed" ending gradually displaced the strong form, and "sprouted" became the standard participle. "Sprouten" survives today mainly in older literature and in deliberately archaic writing.