holy-water sprinkle
/ˈhoʊliˌwɔtəɹ ˈspɹɪŋk(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.37 in modern English
32
Scrabble Score
17
Letters
3
Syllables
14
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Synonym of aspergillum (“an implement, in the form of a brush or of a rod with a perforated container, for sprinkling holy water”).
Example Sentences
- "All ſubſtantiues endyng in on, hauyng i cõmyng next before on, be of tbe femyne gendre: Excepte Millyón a myllion⸝ eſcorpión a ſcorpyon a ſarpent⸝ ueſpilión a holy water ſpricle^([sic])⸝ eſtovrgión a ſturgion fiſhe⸝ psalterión a psaltrion […]"
- "[…] I stode at the dore: Then sayd the Byshop go to your sermon. Then Doctour Chadseye put the stole a boute his necke, and caried the holy water sprinkle vnto the bishop, who blessed hym, and gaue hym holy water, and so he went to hys sermon."
- "She alvvay ſmyld, and in her hand did hold / An holy vvater Sprinckle, dipt in deovve, / VVith vvhich ſhe ſprinckled fauours manifold, / On vvhom ſhe liſt, and did great liking ſheovve, […]"
- "[T]he other Cardinalles vvith theyr holi-vvater ſprinkles, quencht his foggy fume and euaporating."
- "VVhy, but holy-vvater is a ſpeciall ranſome to free ſoules out of Purgatorie; and digged out of the fountaine of Scripture. Aſperges me, Domine, Hyſopo: Thou ſhalt ſprinkle me, oh Lord, vvith Hyſope: (for ſo their tranſlation hath it:) the ſenſe of vvhich place, is, ſaith the Romiſh; that the Prieſt muſt daſh the graue vvith a holy-vvater-ſprinkle: for you muſt ſuppoſe, that Dauid vvas dead and buried vvhen he ſpake theſe vvords, and his ſoule in Purgatorie."
- "After that, they went in Procession; two Banners being carried before them, in one of which was the Picture of Virtue, and that of Fortune in the other. The last went before, carried by a Semiquavering-Fryar, at whose Heels was another with the Shadow or Image of Virtue in one Hand, and an Holy-water-sprinkle in the other; I mean of that Holy Mercurial-water, which Ovid describes in his de fastis. And as the preceding Semiquaver rang a Hand-bell, this shak'd the Sprinkle with his Fist."
Etymology
PIE word *kéh₂ilos From Late Middle English haly water spryngelle (“sprinkler for holy water”), from haly water, hōlī water (“water consecrated for use in religious ceremonies”) + sprenkil, springel, spryngelle (“sprinkler for holy water”). By surface analysis, holy water + sprinkle. Noun sense 2 (“weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff”) is from its resemblance to the aspergillum, and apparently from the fact that it scattered blood when it came into contact with a person.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhoʊliˌwɔtəɹ ˈspɹɪŋk(ə)l/
- British English: /ˈhəʊliˌwɔːtə ˈspɹɪŋkl̩/