[UP- 4. Cf. WFris. opspringe, (M)Du. opspringen, MLG. upspringen; MHG. ûfspringen (G. aufspringen); MSw. up-, opspringa (Sw. upp-), (M)Da. opspringe.]
1. intr. Of plants, etc.: To spring up, to grow.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xiii. 5. Sume feollon on stænihte … and hrædlice upsprungon.
c. 1200. Ormin, 10543. Allswa summ corn & chaff Uppspringenn oft an rote.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Former Age, 10. But corn vp-sprong vnsowe of mannes hond.
1471. Ripley, Comp. Alch., V. viii. (MS. Ashm. 1479). So ther shuld ther of no frute vp spring.
1865. Emerson, Sphinx, 18. Erect as a sunbeam, Upspringeth the palm.
1876. Black, Madcap Violet, ii. Far away … the subtle fire of the earth upsprang in pale primroses.
b. fig. To arise, come into being.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 884. Fro Boloigne is this Erl of Pavyk come, Of which the fame vp sprang to moore and lesse.
a. 1500. Ratis Raving, I. 1428. Gud dissert will nocht vpspring, But hail purpos.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractatis, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 6. Pryde and auarice, of the quhilkis … hes vpsprung the electioun of vnqualifeit bischopis.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 325. Frome him the hous and clann of the Cumeinis first vpsprang.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 462. These [cattle] in flocks Pasturing at once, and in broad Herds upsprung.
1744. Thomson, Winter, 641. Up-springs the Dance along the lighted Dome.
1821. Byron, Heav. & Earth, iii. 869. The forests’ trees (coeval with the hour When Paradise upsprung).
1842. Borrow, Bible in Spain, xliv. Here upsprang, in Spain’s better days, a little city.
1890. J. Pulsford, Loyalty to Christ, I. 7. The joy of eternity begins to upspring in our bosoms.
2. To rise, to ascend; to spring or leap upwards; to start to one’s feet.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Compl. Mars, 14. Er sunne gan vp sprynge.
14[?]. in Anglia, XXVII. 286. We saw his stern in þe est spedily vpspryng.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xii. 2. Airly as did the day vpspring, Thus sang ane bird.
1563. Sackville, Induct. Mirr. Mag., lxvi. The flames vpspring, and … crepe From walle to roofe.
1729. Savage, Wanderer, IV. 138. The trout … Up-springs, and sunward turns its crimson stains.
1760. Beattie, Ode to Hope, 22. Startled at the heavenly ray, With speed unwonted Indolence upsprings.
1806. S. Grahame, Birds of Scot., 12. When flush, the game upsprings.
1848. Lytton, K. Arthur, VI. lv. Upsprung the host, upsprung the guests in ire—Upsprung the gentle dames, and fled affrighted.
1885–94. R. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, June, vi. Upsprang she then, and kiss’d them and embraced.
