"F" Word Origins

Freddy

Origin

From Fred plus the diminutive suffix -y.

Frederick

German

From German Friedrich, ultimately from Old High German Fridurih, combining words meaning "peace" and "ruler" — so literally "peaceful ruler."

Fredo

Italian

Related to the Italian given names Federico and Alfredo; the slang sense is widely traced to the character Fredo Corleone in The Godfather.

free

Old English

From Old English freo, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "beloved, not in bondage" — the same root that gives us "friend." The core Indo-European idea was "dear" or "loved," which in Germanic languages narrowed to mean someone who belonged to the tribe, as opposed to a captive or slave.

freebie

Origin

Built informally from "free" with the added -bie ending.

freebooter

Origin

From free + booty + -er. Calque of Dutch vrijbuiter (literally “free booty-er”), from vrij (“free”) + buit (“booty”) + -er (occupational suffix). Doublet of filibuster.

freedman

Origin

From "freed" plus "man."

freedom

Old English

From Old English freodom, built from "free" plus the suffix "-dom" (as in "kingdom"), literally meaning "the condition of being free."

freedwoman

Origin

From freed + woman.

freefall

Origin

A compound of "free" and "fall."

freehold

English

From free plus hold, translating the Anglo-Norman legal term for land held without obligation of service to a lord.

freeholder

Origin

From Middle English free holder, freholdere, equivalent to freehold + -er. Compare Old Northern French fraunc tenaunt.

freelance

Origin · 1819

Coined by Sir Walter Scott in his 1819 novel Ivanhoe, originally describing a medieval mercenary knight whose "lance" (weapon and services) was not sworn to any single lord. The word later shifted to its modern sense of independent, self-employed work.

freelancer

Origin

From freelance plus the agent suffix -er.

freeloader

Origin · 1930

From "free" plus "load," with the agent suffix -er, originating in 1930s American slang.

freely

Old English

From Old English freolic, related to "free" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

freeman

Old English

From Old English freomann, a straightforward compound of "free" and "man."

freemason

Origin

From free + mason.

freephone

Origin

From free + phone, perhaps after the Freefone (0800 number) service introduced in 1985 in the UK.

freestone

Origin

From free + stone.

freestyle

Origin

From "free" plus "style."

freethinking

Origin

From free + thinking.

freety

Origin

From freet + -y.

freeway

Origin

From "free" plus "way," originally referring to a toll-free highway.

freeze

Old English

From Old English freosan, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to freeze," ultimately traced to a Proto-Indo-European word for frost.

freezer

Origin

From "freeze" plus the agent/instrument suffix "-er."

freezing

Origin

Formed from "freeze" plus the suffix "-ing."

freight

Middle English

From Late Middle English freighten, related to Middle Dutch vrachten ("to load a ship with cargo"), itself from a noun meaning cargo or hire fee.

freighter

Origin

From "freight" plus the agent suffix "-er."

frell

Origin

Invented for the television series Farscape as a fictional alien swear word.

fremd

Origin

From Middle English fremde, fremede (“strange, foreign”), from Old English fremde, fremede, fremeþe (“foreign, strange”), from Proto-West Germanic *framiþī, from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz (“foreign, not one's own”). Cognate with Scots fremmit, frempt (“fremd”), West Frisian frjemd (“strange, fremd”), Dutch vreemd (“strange, foreign”), German fremd (“fremd, strange, foreign”), Swedish främmande (“foreign, outlandish, strange”). More at from.

fremdling

Origin

From fremd + -ling. Cf. Dutch vreemdeling, German Fremdling, Swedish främling.

French

Old English

From Old English Frencisc, meaning "Frankish," ultimately from the name of the Franks, the Germanic people who gave their name to France.

Frenchman

French

From Middle English Frenshman, a straightforward compound of "French" and "man."

frenchwoman

Origin

From Middle English Frensche wymen pl, equivalent to French + -woman.

Frenchy

French

From "French" plus the adjective/noun-forming suffix "-y."

frenetic

Greek

Via Old French frenetique and Latin phreneticus from Greek phrenitis, an inflammation of the brain, from phren meaning mind. Frantic comes from the same root.

frenzy

Ancient Greek

From Old French frenesie, tracing back to Ancient Greek phrenitis, meaning "inflammation of the brain" — the same root behind "frantic" and "frenetic."

frequency

Latin

From Latin frequentia ("crowd, throng"), related to frequens ("frequent").

frequent

Latin

From Old French frequent, from Latin frequens, meaning "crowded" or "repeated."

frequently

Origin

From "frequent" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

fresco

Italian

From Italian fresco, meaning "fresh," referring to painting onto freshly laid, still-damp plaster. It shares its ultimate root with the English words "fresh" and "frisk."

fresh

French

From Old English fersc ("fresh, pure"), tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "fresh." Related to German frisch and French frais.

freshen

Origin

Formed from fresh plus the verb-forming suffix -en, meaning "to make."

freshener

Origin

From freshen plus the agent suffix -er, "a thing that does the action."

fresher

Origin

A shortened, informal form of "freshman."

freshet

Origin

From Old French freschete, a diminutive of fres (“fresh”) via its feminine form fresche.

freshie

Origin

From fresh + -ie. In the sense of an immigrant, shortened from fresh off the boat.