Spruces

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of evergreen tree belonging to the genus Picea, often characterized by conical shape and needle-like leaves
2. Referring to the wood derived from these trees, commonly used in construction and paper production
3. To enhance or improve the appearance of something, often referring to grooming or tidying up in a more general sense

Etymology: "Spruces" is simply the plural of "spruce", so the story belongs to the singular. The tree name grew out of a place name: in Middle English "Spruce" was an alteration of "Pruce", meaning Prussia, and it came into English via Medieval Latin from a Baltic language, probably Old Prussian. Spruce, spruse and sprws were terms for goods that Hanseatic merchants brought to England, including beer, wood and leather, and the tree was also believed to be native to Prussia. The sense of neatness is the surprise. Spruce leather, attested in 1466, was used for a fashionable style of jerkin in the 1400s, and that smart-looking garment gave rise to the adjective "spruce" meaning trim and neat, attested from 1594, and the related verb meaning to make trim.

Synonyms: fir, pine, cedar, hemlock, larch