English
frump
Frump may come from Middle English frumpylle ‘wrinkle’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frumpylle‘wrinkle’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1617frump
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frumpylle‘wrinkle’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1617frump
Earliest quotation: 1617, John Fletcher, The Chances: “Was ever gentlewoman So frump'd off with a fool!”
Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘before, in front of’
Proto-Germanic *fra- ‘off, away’
Proto-West Germanic *fra- ‘forms verbs with the sense of "away from" or…’
English for-
Proto-Germanic *rumpō ‘trunk of a tree, log’
Middle Low German rump ‘the bulk or trunk of a body, trunk of a tree’
Old Norse rumpr
Middle English rumpe
English rump
Every English word from Middle English frumpylle
Today it means
noun A frumpy person, somebody who is unattractive, drab or dowdy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English frumpylle / frump