holy-water sprinkle

== English == === Etymology === 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. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhəʊliˌwɔːtə ˈspɹɪŋkl̩/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhoʊliˌwɔtəɹ ˈspɹɪŋk(ə)l/, [-ɾəɹ-], (cot–caught merger) /-ˌwɑtəɹ-/ Rhymes: -ɪŋkəl Hyphenation: holy wat‧er sprink‧le === Noun === holy-water sprinkle (plural holy-water sprinkles) (Christianity) Synonym of aspergillum (“an implement, in the form of a brush or of a rod with a perforated container, for sprinkling holy water”). [from 15th c.] Synonym: holy water sprinkler (by extension, weaponry, historical) A 16th-century weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, used mainly in England; a morning star. Synonyms: holy water sprinkler, morgenstern ==== Translations ==== === Notes === === References === === Further reading === aspergillum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia morning star (weapon) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “holy-water sprinkle, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2023. “holy water sprinkler, n.”, in Collins English Dictionary. “holy water sprinkler or holy water sprinkle, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.