fret
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /fɹɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: frets
Etymology: From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (“for-, prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward, toward”)) + *etaną (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)).
The senses meaning “to chafe, rub” could also be due to sound-association with Anglo-Norman *freiter (modern dialectal French fretter), from Vulgar Latin *frictāre, frequentative of Latin fricāre, from fricō (“to chafe, rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”); compare Old French froter (modern French frotter). The chief difficulty is the lack of evidence of the Old French word.
Cognates
*Dutch vreten, fretten (“to devour, hog, wolf”)
*Low German freten (“to eat up”)
*German fressen (“to devour, gobble up, guzzle”)
*Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan, “to devour”)
*Swedish fräta (“to eat away, corrode, fret”)
*Danish fråse (“to gorge”)
Senses: examples: text: Now though Cider uſed in my Method ſhould not ferment at all, till it come into the Bottle, and then but a little; yet the Cauſe of Fermentation being in a great Degree taken away, the reſt can do no conſiderable Harm to thoſe who drink it, [...] It is in your Power to give the Cider juſt as much fret as you pleaſe, and no more; and that by ſeveral ways: For either you may bottle it ſooner or later, as you pleaſe: Or you may bottle it from two Taps in your Veſſel, and that from the higher Tap will have leſs Fret, and the lower more: [...]
ref: 1724, Paul Neile, “Sir Paul Neile’s Discourse of Cider”, in John Evelyn, Silva: Or, A Discourse of Forest-trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions: … In Two Books. …, 5th edition, London: Printed for J. Walthoe [et al.], →OCLC, page 91:
text: The place was a little below Gravesend, quite out of the fret and bustle of the narrower river, and there was not even a steamboat pier to disturb the quiet of this cluster of harmless houses, though they watched upon their beach the passage of great navies down the greatest thoroughfare of England.
ref: 1857, [Margaret Oliphant], “The First Day”, in The Days of My Life. An Autobiography. … In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, 13, Great Marlborough Street, →OCLC, page 4:
text: When the pitching heat is high, and the yeast is of a good quality and in sufficient abundance, the fermentation proceeds so rapidly and with such energy that it becomes ungovernable; some means must therefore be employed to check the heat. For this purpose coils of pipe, through which water circulates, are fitted up in the tun. Unless this is done the whole of the glutinous constituents of the gyle is not removed in the yeast, and the liquor does not cleanse satisfactorily, in consequence of an after fermentation which sets in, which is technically known as the "fret."
ref: 1877, “BEER”, in Encyclopædia of Chemistry Theoretical, Practical, and Analytical as Applied to the Arts and Manufactures, volumes I (Acetic Acid – Gas), Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott & Co., →OCLC, page 315, column 2:
glosses: Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
examples: text: He keeps his mind in a continual fret.
text: Yet then did Gildon dravv his venal quill; / I vviſh'd the man a dinner, and ſate ſtill: / Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret; / I never anſvver'd, I vvas not in debt: / If vvant provok'd, or madneſs made them print, / I vvag'd no vvar with Bedlam or the Mint.
ref: 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 8, lines 146–151:
text: It was our good fortune last autumn to escape from the feverish excitement and moral tension of this vast metropolis, from the hurry and fret of business, the glut of pleasure, the satiety of delight, the weariness of politics, and the exhausting duties of our critical function, into that favoured corner of our fortunate island, the West of England; [...]
ref: 1836 December, “Art. IX. Transactions of the Institute of British Architects. Vol. I. Part I. London, 1836.”, in John Taylor Coleridge, editor, The Quarterly Review, volume LVIII, number CXVI, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, →OCLC, page 524:
text: And the preacher who delivered the discourse went home and fretted; his wife, children and servants being witnesses. Sanctification takes the spirit of fret out of the heart.
ref: 1897, B[everly] Carradine, The Sanctified Life, Cincinnati, Oh.: Office of the Revivalist, →OCLC, page 192:
text: After their introduction to Orlando, Celia wonders why Rosalind should be so morose ([William Shakespeare's As You Like It,] I.iii.10–19): [...] In her effort to cheer Rosalind, Celia compares these frets to burs, meaning the rough and prickly flowerheads: "They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery."
ref: 1980, Renaissance Papers, Durham, N.C.: Southeastern Renaissance Conference, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 50:
glosses: Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
examples: text: Vesiculæ, or vesicles, are small, circumscribed elevations of the scarf-skin, containing serum, at first (both in their coats and contents) transparent, afterwards white and opaque, and terminating in the formation of scurf or thin scales. Under this head are ranged varicella (chicken-pox), sudamina, eczema (red fret), herpes (fret), scabies (itch).
ref: 1860, Robert J[acob] Jordan, chapter I, in Skin Diseases and Their Remedies, London: John Churchill, New Burlington Street, →OCLC, book I (Diseases of the Skin), page 57:
text: To cure Gripes in Horses. This disorder goes by different names in different districts of the country; as fret, from the uneasiness attending it; bots, from its being thought to arise from these animals or worms, etc. [...] In speaking of the medicine for gripes, or the flatulent colic sometimes termed fret, Mr. White mentions, domestic remedies may be employed when proper medicines cannot be procured in time.
ref: 1867 April 25, [Colin Mackenzie], “Farriery”, in Mackenzie’s Ten Thousand Receipts, in All the Useful and Domestic Arts; Constituting a Complete and Practical Library, …, new, carefully revised and re-written edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: T. Ellwood Zell & Company, Nos. 17 & 19 South Sixth Street, pages 112–113:
glosses: Herpes; tetter (“any of various pustular skin conditions”).
examples: text: Then we obſerve the Frets in the Banks of Rivers that are newly made by any great Land-Flood, which uſually are then very clean, to ſee, if happily we can diſcover any metalline Stones in the Sides and Bottoms thereof, together with the Caſt of the Country (i.e. any earth of a different colour from the reſt of the Bank), which is a great help to direct us, which ſide or hill to ſearch into.
ref: 1716, “[The Tin Mines in Devonshire and Cornwal] [marginal note]”, in John Lowthorp, editor, The Philosophical Transactions, and Collections, to the End of the Year 1700, Abridg’d and Dispos’d under General Heads, volume II (Containing All the Physiological Papers), London: Printed for Robert Knaplock, at the Bishop's-Head; Richard Wilkin, at the King's-Head; and Henry Clements, at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-yard, →OCLC, page 566:
topics: business
mining
glosses: The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus indicate to miners the locality of veins of ore.