Meaning

noun an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities

noun an ungainly posture with arms and legs spread about

verb sit or lie with one's limbs spread out

originFrom Middle English spraulen, from Old English spreawlian (“move convulsively”), ultimately through a Proto-Germanic form cognate with *spreutaną (“to sprout”) from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to strew”). Compare North Frisian spraweli, Norwegian sprala, Swedish sprala.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0