Etymograph

English

freak

Freak comes from Middle English friken.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500friken
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1724freak

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500friken
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1724freak

Earliest quotation: 1724, Jonathan Swift: “And then, with heart more hard than stone, ¶…”

first attested First attested in 1567 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1567. The sense "sudden change of mind, a whim" is of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Probably from a dialectal word related to Middle English frekynge (‘capricious behavior; whims’) and Middle English friken, frikien (‘to move briskly or nimbly’), from Old English frīcian (‘to leap, dance’), or Middle English frek (‘insolent, daring’), from Old English frec (‘desirous, greedy, eager, bold, daring’), from Proto-West Germanic *frek, from Proto-Germanic *frekaz, *frakaz (‘hard, efficient, greedy, bold, audacious’) (in which case, it would be related to the noun under etymology 3). For the meaning development compare Russian заско́к (zaskók) akin to ско́к (skók), скака́ть (skakátʹ).

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *frek ‘greedy’

fresh, 1 more

Another origin of freak

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pereg-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frekô‘an active or eager man, warrior, wolf’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150freca‘a bold man, warrior, hero’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500freke
  5. Englishtodayfreak

Today it means

noun Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Middle English friken / freak

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