Etymograph

English

fro

Fro comes from Old Norse frá ‘from’, from Proto-Germanic *fram ‘from’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *promo- ‘forth, forward’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*promo-‘forth, forward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fram‘from’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350frá‘from’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fra‘from’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fro‘from’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*promo-‘forth, forward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fram‘from’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350frá‘from’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fra‘from’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fro‘from’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “The preest that hawkys so, All grace is far…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *promo- ‘forth, forward’

perform, frame, furnish, 2 more

through Proto-Germanic *fram ‘from’

from, veneer

Today it means

adv From; away; back or backward.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *promo- / fro

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