ETYM Old Eng. sprit, French esprit, from Latin spiritus. Related to Spirit, Sprightly.
1. A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition.
2. An elf; a fairy; a goblin.
In computing, a graphics object made up of a pattern of pixels (picture elements) defined by a computer programmer. Some high-level languages and applications programs contain routines that allow a user to define the shape, colors, and other characteristics of individual graphics objects. These objects can then be manipulated and combined to produce animated games or graphic screen displays.

In computer graphics, a small image that can be moved on the screen independently of other images in the background. Sprites are widely used in animation sequences and video games. See also object (definition 3).