mid-15c., "act of sprinkling," verbal noun from sprinkle (v.). Meaning "small amount" is from 1590s.
Entries linking to sprinkling
sprinkle v.
late 14c. (implied in sprinkled), frequentative of sprenge (see spring (v.)) or via Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprenkel "spot, speck," from PIE root *(s)preg- "to jerk, scatter" (source also of Latin spargere "to scatter, sprinkle"). The meaning "rain lightly" is first recorded 1778.