English
fraught
Fraught comes from Middle English fraught.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fraught
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1589–1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fraught
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1589–1590same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlowe, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […]: “VVell, goe / And bid the Merchants and my…”
A compound of *fra- ‘off, away’ + *aihtiz ‘acquisition’
Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’
Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éyḱ-tis ‘to appropriate, possess’
Proto-Germanic *aihtiz ‘acquisition’
Linked words
through Middle Dutch vracht ‘cargo, freight’
Today it means
noun The hire of a boat or ship to transport cargo.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English fraught / fraught