Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/118

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(frêhum) and the partic. fraíhans are formed. The corresponding pres. has a derivative n (comp. scheinen), Goth. fraíhnan, AS. frignan, frînan, beside which appears a form with the present in io-, AS. fricgan (Goth. *frigjan). For another verbal derivative of the same root see under forschen, which, like OHG. jërgôn, ‘to beg,’ has its r transposed. The following Teut. words also belong to the root frē̆h, ÀS. frëht, ‘oracle,’ frihtrian, ‘to predict,’ fricca, ‘herald.’ The Teut. root frē̆h is derived, according to the law of the substitution of consonants, from an Aryan root prē̆k, pṛk, which may have orig. combined the meanings ‘to ask, beg’ (rogare, interrogare). Comp. the prim. allied forms — Sans. root pṛch (for pṛç-sk), ‘to ask, long for; to desire, beg for something,’ praçná, ‘inquiry,’ Zend root pares, peres, ‘to ask, demand,’ Lat. prĕc- (nom. plur. preces, ‘entreaties’), prscâri, ‘to beg,’ procax, ‘insolent,’ prŏcus, ‘wooer, suitor,’ OSlov. prositi, ‘to demand, beg.’

frank, adj., ‘free, independent,’ first occurs in ModHG., from Fr. franc (Ital., Span., and Port. franco), which was again derived from the Teut. tribal name Franken, OHG. Franchun, and may have been applied generally to any freeman. The term Franken is prop. a derivative of a lost OHG. *francho, ‘javelin,’ preserved in AS. franca and OIc. frakke; the Saxons (Sachsen) are similarly named after a weapon — OHG. Sahsun, from sahs, ‘sword’ (see Messer).

Franse, f., ‘fringe,’ from MidHG. franze, f., ‘fringe, ornament, fillet’; hence franzen, vb., ‘to fringe.’ From Romance; comp. Fr. frange, Ital. frangia. “This orig. Fr. word corresponds exactly to the well-known OHG. framea, in the same way as vendange to vindemia; Fransen are pendant ‘darts’ or lace, just as the flap of a coat is a broad spear-head (see Schoß, Gehren); the etymology is both grammatically and logically unobjectionable.” Though framea has certainly not been preserved within the entire Teut. group in the sense of ‘javelin,’ or in any other sense, yet the Latinised framea long remained current in early MidLat. The derivation of the Romance words from Lat. fimbria, ‘fringe,’ is not free from phonetic difficulties.

Fraß, m., ‘devouring, gluttony, food, pasture,’ from MidHG. vrâȥ, m., ‘food, feeding’; akin to fressen; OHG. frâȥ, MidHG. vrâȥ, m., also ‘gormandiser.’

Fratze, f., ‘grimace, distortions, caricature,’ f., ModHG. only, whence Du. fratsen, f. plur., ‘grimaces, distortions,’ is borrowed. The absence of the word in OHG. and MidHG. favours the supposition that it was borrowed, and we are compelled to accept that view, since it is impossible to trace the word to a satisfactory Teut. source; the proposed derivation from AS. frœtwe, f. plur., ‘work of art, ornaments (carvings?),’ is phonetically impossible. The word might be finally derived from Ital. frasche, plur., Fr. frasgues, ‘tricks, hoax.’

Frau, f., ‘mistress, lady, wife, woman,’ from MidHG. vrouwe, OHG. frouwa, f., ‘mistress, gentlewoman, lady, wife, woman’; orig. perhaps only a HG. fem. form (‘wife of the master, mistress of the house’), of OHG. frô, ‘master,’ which became obsolete in Ger., just as in Romance dominus disappeared in many dialects while domina (in the forms donna, dame) was retained in the entire group; comp. Schwieger. See Frohndienst. Frouwa, in the form of frua, found its way into OLG., and thence as frú into Scand.; the word remained unknown to E. The fem. form was OTeut. (Goth. *fraujô, f.), and was used in Scand. — changed according to phonetic laws into Freyja — as the name of a goddess. In the MidHG. period frouwe was popularly connected by a graceful fancy with freuen, fröuwen; comp. Freidank’s saw, “Durch vröude vrouwen sind genant, Ir vröude ervröuwet elliu lant, Wie wol er vröude kante, Der sie êrste vrouwen nante” — “Woman is named from the joy she gives, Her favours fill the world with bliss, What a deep sense of joy had he, Who first named it woman.” See Jungfer and the following word.

Fräulein, n., ‘young lady, damsel, miss,’ from MidHG. vröuwelîn, n., dimin. of MidHG. vrouwe, ‘woman’, orig. ‘noble maiden, young lady of noble birth, mistress, sweetheart,’ also ‘girl of mean rank, servant-girl.’

Frauenzimmer, n., ‘woman,’ from late MidHG. vrouwenzimmer, n., ‘women's apartment’; the connecting link in meaning is collective, ‘the body of women residing in its own apartments, the female inhabitants of the gynæceum,’ also ‘retinue of a lady of high rank,’ just as Hof (court) is used collectively of ‘the people at court.’ “The application of a collective term to an individual” is analogous to the use of