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Origin and history of frau

frau(n.)

"married woman," 1813, from German Frau "woman, wife," from Middle High German vrouwe "lady, mistress," from Old High German frouwa "mistress, lady" (9c.), from Proto-Germanic *frowo "lady" (source also of Old English freo "woman, lady," Middle Dutch vrouwe, Dutch vrouw), fem. of *frawan "lord," reconstructed (Watkins) to be from suffixed form of PIE *pro- (see pro-), extended form of root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before, toward, near," etc.. Swedish fru, Danish frue are ultimately from Dutch; the proper Scandinavian form is preserved in Old Norse freyja "lady," husfreyja "mistress of the house."

also from 1813

Entries linking to frau

frauendienst(n.)

"excessive chivalry toward women," 1879 as a German word in English, from the title of a work by Ulrich von Lichtenstein (13c.), from German frauen, plural of frau "woman" + dienst "service."

fraulein(n.)

"young lady," 1680s, from German Fräulein "unmarried woman" (Middle High German vrouwelin), diminutive of Frau "lady" (see frau).

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Bertha
Soldiers' nickname Big Bertha for large-bore German mortar of World War I is a reference to Frau Bertha Krupp von Bohlen...
wife
tends to be slighting or derogatory; Middle High German wip in early medieval times was "woman, female person," vrouwe (Frau...wip "took on a common, almost vulgar tone that restricted its usage in certain circles" and largely has been displaced by Frau...
title
c. 1300, "inscription, heading," from Old French title "title or chapter of a book; position; legal permit" (12c., Modern French titre, by dissimilation), and in part from Old English titul, both from Latin titulus "inscription, label, ticket, placard, heading; honorable appellat
context
early 15c., "a composition, a chronicle, the entire text of a writing," from Latin contextus "a joining together," originally past participle of contexere "to weave together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + texere "to weave, to make" (from PIE root *te
research
1570s, "act of searching closely" for a specific person or thing, from French recerche (1530s, Modern French recherche), back-formation from Old French recercher "seek out, search closely" (see research (v.)). The meaning "diligent scientific inquiry and investigation directed to
concert
1660s, "agreement of two or more in design or plan; accord, harmony," from French concert (16c.), from Italian concerto "concert, harmony," from concertare "bring into agreement," apparently from Latin concertare "to contend with zealously, contest, dispute, debate" from assimila
resort
late 14c., "that to which one has recourse for aid or assistance, source of comfort and solace," from Old French resort "resource, a help, an aid, a remedy," back-formation from resortir "to resort," literally "to go out again," from re- "again" (see re-) + sortir "go out" (see s
supplant
c. 1300, supplaunten, "dispossess, acquire (a position from someone) by strategy or scheming" (implied in agent noun supplanter), from Old French suplanter, sosplanter "to trip up, overthrow, drive out, usurp," or directly from Latin supplantare "trip up, overthrow," from assimil
convenience
late 14c., "agreement, conformity, resemblance, similarity," also "state or condition of being suitable, adaptation to existing conditions," from Latin convenientia "a meeting together, agreement, harmony," from convenien-, present-participle stem of convenire "to come together,
dream
"sequence of sensations or images passing through the mind of a sleeping person," mid-13c., probably related to Old Norse draumr, Danish drøm, Swedish dröm, Old Saxon drom "merriment, noise," Old Frisian dram "dream," Dutch droom, Old High German troum, German Traum "dream." Thes

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