spruce (n.)
"type of evergreen tree, spruce-fir," 1660s, from spruse (adj.) "made of spruce wood" (early 15c.), originally that imported from Prussia. It is literally "from Prussia," from Middle English Spruce, Sprws (late 14c.), unexplained alterations of Pruce "Prussia," which is from an Old French form of Prussia. A 15c. English government document has Sprusiers for "Prussians."
Spruce seems to have been a generic term for commodities brought to England from the Baltic and East by Hanseatic merchants (especially beer, boards and wooden chests, and leather). Thus the tree, which grows widely in the Baltics and Scandinavia, was believed to be particular to Prussia, which in Tudor times became figurative in England as a land of fashionable apparel and luxuries generally, thus probably spruce (adj.).
He shall liue in the land of Spruce, milke and hony flowing into his mouth sleeping [Chapman, "Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn," 1613]
In a 17c. phrase such as spruce-boards it is difficult to say whether the sense is "of spruce" or "from Prussia."
In scientific use, as a distinct species of evergreen tree, from 1731. Nearly all pines have long, soft needles growing in groups of two (Scotch) to five (white); spruce and fir needles grow singly. Spruce needles are squarish and sharp; fir needles are short and flat. Cones of the fir stand upright; the cones of the spruce hang before they fall.
Spruce beer "beverage made from the leaves of the spruce-fir or the essence of spruce" is c. 1500.
spruce (adj.)
"neat, smart in dress and appearance, dapper, brisk," 1580s, from spruce leather (mid-15c.), a type of leather imported from Prussia into England in the 1400s and 1500s and used there to make a popular style of jerkin that was considered smart-looking. See spruce (n.) for explanation.
