1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Spring

SPRING (from “to spring,” “to leap or jump up,” “burst out,” O. Eng., springan, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springen, possibly allied to Gr. σπέρχεσθαι, to move rapidly), primarily the act of springing or leaping. The word is hence applied in various senses: to the season of the year in which plant life begins to bud and shoot; to a source of water springing or welling up from below the surface of the earth and flowing away as a stream or standing in a pool (see Water Supply); or to an elastic or resilient body or contrivance for receiving and imparting mechanical power. The most common form in which springs in this last sense are made is that of a spiral coil of wire or narrow band of steel. There are many uses to which they are put, e.g. for communicating motion, as in a clock or watch (qq.v.), or for relieving concussion, as in the case of carriages (q.v.).