Etymograph

English

fresco

Fresco comes from Italian fresco ‘fresh’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *preyskos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preyskos‘fresh, unsalted’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*friskaz‘fresh’reconstructed
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*friscum‘fresh’reconstructed
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentfresco‘fresh’
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1722same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preyskos‘fresh, unsalted’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*friskaz‘fresh’reconstructed
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*friscum‘fresh’reconstructed
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentfresco‘fresh’
  5. Englishearliest quotation a. 1722same form

Earliest quotation: a. 1722, Matthew Prior, Hans Carvel: “[…] I [Satan] cannot ſtay Flaring in ſun-ſhine all…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *friskaz ‘fresh’

fresh, frisk, 3 more

Today it means

noun A cool, refreshing state of the air; coolness, duskiness, shade.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *preyskos / fresco

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