A sprite is a small magical creature in old stories — a fairy or elf, usually imagined as light, quick and mischievous rather than kind or wicked. It belongs to fairy tales, fantasy novels and poetry; nobody uses it about real life except playfully, as when you call a small lively child 'a little sprite'.

A sprite is a small magical creature in old storiesSprite在古老故事裡指一種小型的魔法生物 — a fairy or elf像是精靈或小妖精, usually imagined as light, quick and mischievous rather than kind or wicked通常被想像成輕盈、敏捷、調皮而不是善良或邪惡。It belongs to fairy tales, fantasy novels and poetry它屬於童話、奇幻小說和詩的世界; nobody uses it about real life except playfully在現實生活裡沒有人會這樣用除非是開玩笑, as when you call a small lively child 'a little sprite'像是把活潑的小孩叫做'a little sprite'。

Two other meanings you will meet more often than the fairy one, so keep them separate.

Two other meanings you will meet more often than the fairy one還有兩個意思你遇到的機會其實比精靈這個意思還多, so keep them separate要分開來記。

In computing and video games, a sprite is a small picture — a character, a coin, a bullet — that the machine moves around the screen as one unit; anyone who makes games uses this word daily and it has no magic in it at all.

In computing and video games在電腦和電玩裡, a sprite is a small picturesprite指的是一張小圖片 — a character, a coin, a bullet像是角色、金幣、子彈 — that the machine moves around the screen as one unit被程式當成一個單位在螢幕上移動; anyone who makes games uses this word daily做遊戲的人每天都在用這個字 and it has no magic in it at all跟魔法一點關係都沒有。

And Sprite with a capital S is the lemon-lime soft drink, which is what most people in Taiwan think of first.

And Sprite with a capital S is the lemon-lime soft drink而大寫的Sprite則是檸檬萊姆口味的汽水, which is what most people in Taiwan think of first也是大多數台灣人第一個想到的意思。

In science there is also a rare kind of red flash high above thunderstorms called a sprite, but that is specialist language.

In science在科學上, there is also a rare kind of red flash high above thunderstorms called a sprite雷暴上方偶爾出現的一種紅色閃光也叫做sprite, but that is specialist language不過那是專業術語。