# sprint

> English word · Noun · IPA /spɹɪnt/ · frequency rank #7,613

## Definitions
1. A short race at top speed.
2. A burst of speed or activity.
3. In Agile software development, a period of development of a fixed time that is preceded and followed by meetings.

## Etymology
Alteration of earlier sprent (“to leap; bound; dart”), from Northern Middle English sprenten, from Old Norse *sprenta (for later spretta), from Proto-Germanic *sprantijaną, causative of Proto-Germanic *sprintaną (“to jump up; bounce”), from Proto-Indo-European *sprend-, *sprendʰ- (“to flinch; jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to twitch; fidget; flinch; jump; be quick”). Cognate with Middle High German sprenzen (“to sprinkle; splash”), Swedish spritta (“to startle”), Icelandic spretta (“to spring forth; emerge; arise; develop”).

## Easily confused with
- **stint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-stint)
- **string** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-string)
- **strict** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-strict)
- **spying** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-spying)
- **sprung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-sprung)
- **sprite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-sprite)
- **sprout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-sprout)
- **squint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-squint)
- **sprinter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprint-vs-sprinter)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spin-vs-sprint)
- **spit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spit-vs-sprint)
- **spent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spent-vs-sprint)
- **split** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/split-vs-sprint)
- **Spain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spain-vs-sprint)
- **saint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saint-vs-sprint)
- **spine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spine-vs-sprint)
- **spins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spins-vs-sprint)
- **spilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spilt-vs-sprint)
- **sarin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sarin-vs-sprint)
- **spina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spina-vs-sprint)

## Common misspellings (10)
`psrint`, `spirnt`, `spprint`, `sprinnt`, `sprintt`, `spritn`, `sprnit`, `sprrint`, `srpint`, `ssprint`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sprint