Currently in the act of springing or jumping upward; characterized by a springing motion.
From a- (on, in, at) + spring (the verb), forming a present participle construction common in English around the 16th-17th centuries. The prefix 'a-' was used to create adjectives describing states of action, gradually falling out of fashion but surviving in archaic or poetic language.
This word showcases how English verbs can become adjectives through adding 'a-' prefixes—similar to 'ablaze' or 'asleep'—a grammatical pattern that was much more productive in Old English but mostly disappeared by modern times.
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