sprite

Etymology

From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spiritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, and esprit. (computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.

noun

1. (mythology) A spirit; a soul; a shade.
   He who torments the chafer's sprite Weaves a bower in endless night. 1803, William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
2. An apparition; ghost
3. (mythology) An elf; a fairy; a goblin.
4. (computer graphics) A two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene.
5. An electrical discharge that occurs high above the cumulonimbus cloud of an active thunderstorm.
6. The green woodpecker, or yaffle (Picus viridis).
7. (entomology) Any of various African damselflies of the genus Pseudagrion (of which, Australian species are named riverdamsels).
8. A spayed female ferret.
9. (obsolete) Alternative form of spright (“frame of mind, disposition”)