springald

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɹɪŋəld/

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Apparently from spring, with an uncertain final element.

springald (plural springalds)

1. (archaic) A young man, a stripling, a youth.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:

     There came two Springals of full tender yeares, / Farre thence from forrein land where they did dwell […]

   • 1648, Robert Herrick, “How the Wall-flower Came First, and Why So Called.”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], OCLC 1044244285; republished as Henry G. Clarke, editor, Hesperides, or Works both Human and Divine, volume I, London: H. G. Clarke and Co., […], 1844, OCLC 1110372590, page 19:

     Understand, this firstling [the wallflower] was / Once a brisk and bonny lass, / Who a sprightly Springall lov'd: / And to have it fully prov'd, / Up she got upon a wall, / Tempting down to slide withal; / But the silken twist untied, / So she fell; and bruis'd, she dy'd.

   • 1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], OCLC 230694662:

     this same springald, who conceals his name, and despises our proffered hospitality, hath already gained one prize, and may now afford to let others have their turn.

• springal, springall, springold

A springald (etymology 2).

From Old French espringale; of Germanic origin, akin to English spring.

springald (plural springalds)

1. (historical) An ancient military engine for launching stones and arrows by means of a spring.

   Coordinate terms: ballista, catapult

   • 2007, Kelly DeVries; Robert Douglas Smith, Medieval Weapons: An Illustrated History of Their Impact, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 138:

     The springald is a somewhat more problematic weapon as it is completely unclear whether it was the same weapon as the Roman ballista which some historians believe never disappeared from the battlefield and remained in use throughout […]

   • 2010, Matt Landrus, Leonardo da Vinci’s Giant Crossbow, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 54:

     Although generally more powerful than the great crossbow, the springald was not as versatile, since it could not be moved quickly during a siege, nor would it operate properly in wet conditions at sea.

• espringal
• springal (obsolete)

• springald on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Spradling, grid plans