sprite

• spright (obsolete)

From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spiritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, 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.

• enPR: sprīt, IPA^(key): /spɹaɪt/
• Rhymes: -aɪt

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

sprite (plural sprites)

1. (mythology) Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined:
   1. A spirit; a soul; a shade.
      • 1803, William Blake, Auguries of Innocence:

        He who torments the chafer's sprite
        Weaves a bower in endless night.

   2. An apparition; a ghost.
   3. An elf, fairy, or goblin; one with a small humanlike physical body.
2. (computer graphics) A two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene.
3. (meteorology) A large electrical discharge that occurs high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm, which appears as a luminous red or orange flash.
4. The green woodpecker, or yaffle (Picus viridis).
5. (entomology) Any of various African damselflies of the genus Pseudagrion (of which, Australian species are named riverdamsels).
6. A spayed female ferret.
7. (obsolete) Alternative form of spright (“frame of mind, disposition”)

• (supernatural creature): See goblin (hostile)

• sprightly

• → Japanese: スプライト (supuraito)
• → Russian: спрайт (sprajt)

• Pitres, Presti, Priest, esprit, pierst, priest, re-tips, respit, retips, ripest, sitrep, stripe, tripes

From English sprite.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsprite/, [ˈs̠prit̪e̞]
• IPA^(key): /ˈsprɑi̯tːi/, [ˈs̠prɑ̝i̯t̪ːi] (approximating English pronunciation; inflects like risti)
• Rhymes: -ite
• Syllabification^(key): spri‧te

sprite

1. (computer graphics) sprite

• pelihahmo

• ripset