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Webster 1913 Edition

Fret

Fret

(frĕt)
,
Noun.
[Obs.]
See 1st
Frith
.

Fret

(frĕt)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Fretted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Fretting
.]
[OE.
freten
to eat, consume; AS.
fretan
, for
foretan
; pref.
for-
+
etan
to eat; akin to D.
vreten
, OHG.
frezzan
, G.
fressen
, Sw.
fräta
, Goth.
fra-itan
. See
For
, and
Eat
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
To devour.
[Obs.]
The sow
frete
the child right in the cradle.
Chaucer.
2.
To rub; to wear away by friction; to chafe; to gall; hence, to eat away; to gnaw;
as, to
fret
cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal; a worm
frets
the plants of a ship.
With many a curve my banks I
fret
.
Tennyson.
3.
To impair; to wear away; to diminish.
By starts
His
fretted
fortunes give him hope and fear.
Shakespeare
4.
To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple;
as, to
fret
the surface of water
.
5.
To tease; to irritate; to vex.
Fret
not thyself because of evil doers.
Ps. xxxvii. 1.

Fret

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be worn away; to chafe; to fray;
as, a wristband
frets
on the edges
.
2.
To eat in; to make way by corrosion.
Many wheals arose, and
fretted
one into another with great excoriation.
Wiseman.
3.
To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle;
as, rancor
frets
in the malignant breast
.
4.
To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
He
frets
, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground.
Dryden.

Fret

,
Noun.
1.
The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
Addison.
2.
Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation;
as, he keeps his mind in a continual
fret
.
Yet then did Dennis rave in furious
fret
.
Pope.
3.
Herpes; tetter.
Dunglison.
4.
pl.
(Mining)
The worn sides of river banks, where ores, or stones containing them, accumulate by being washed down from the hills, and thus indicate to the miners the locality of the veins.

Fret

,
Verb.
T.
[OE.
fretten
to adorn, AS.
frætwan
,
frætwian
; akin to OS.
fratahōn
, cf. Goth.
us-fratwjan
to make wise, also AS.
frætwe
ornaments, OS.
fratahī
adornment.]
To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
Whose skirt with gold was
fretted
all about.
Spenser.
Yon gray lines,
That
fret
the clouds, are messengers of day.
Shakespeare

Fret

,
Noun.
1.
Ornamental work in relief, as carving or embossing. See
Fretwork
.
2.
(Arch.)
An ornament consisting of small fillets or slats intersecting each other or bent at right angles, as in classical designs, or at oblique angles, as often in Oriental art.
His lady’s cabinet is a adorned on the
fret
, ceiling, and chimney-piece with . . . carving.
Evelyn.
3.
The reticulated headdress or net, made of gold or silver wire, in which ladies in the Middle Ages confined their hair.
A
fret
of gold she had next her hair.
Chaucer.
Fret saw
,
a saw with a long, narrow blade, used in cutting frets, scrolls, etc.; a scroll saw; a keyhole saw; a compass saw.

Fret

,
Noun.
[F.
frette
a saltire, also a hoop, ferrule, prob. a dim. of L.
ferrum
iron. For sense 2, cf. also E.
fret
to rub.]
1.
(Her.)
A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
2.
(Mus.)
A short piece of wire, or other material fixed across the finger board of a guitar or a similar instrument, to indicate where the finger is to be placed.

Fret

,
Verb.
T.
To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.
Syn. – Peevish; ill-humored; ill-natured; irritable; waspish; captious; petulant; splenetic; spleeny; passionate; angry.
–
Fretful
,
Peevish
,
Cross
. These words all indicate an unamiable working and expression of temper. Peevish marks more especially the inward spirit: a peevish man is always ready to find fault. Fretful points rather to the outward act, and marks a complaining impatience: sickly children are apt to be fretful. Crossness is peevishness mingled with vexation or anger.

Webster 1828 Edition

Fret

FRET

,
Verb.
T.
[L. rodo, rosi, rado, to scrape. To fret or gnaw gives the sense of unevenness, roughness, in substances; the like appearance is given to fluids by agitation.]
1.
To rub; to wear away a substance by friction; as, to fret cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal.
2.
To corrode; to gnaw; to ear away; as, a worm frets the planks of a ship.
3.
To impair; to wear away.
By starts, his fretted fortunes give him hope and fear.
4.
To form into raised work.
5.
To variegate; to diversify.
Yon gray lines that fret the clouds are messengers of day.
6.
To agitate violently.
7.
To agitate; to disturb; to make rough; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.
8.
To tease; to irritate; to vex; to make angry.
Fret not thyself because of evil doers. Ps. 38.
9.
To wear away; to chafe; to gall. Let not a saddle or harness fret the skin of your horse.

FRET

, v.i.
1.
To be worn away; to be corroded. Any substance will in time fret away by friction.
2.
To eat or wear in; to make way of attrition or corrosion.
Many wheels arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation.
3.
To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; as the rancor that frets in the malignant breast.
4.
To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground.

FRET

,
Noun.
1.
The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water; small undulations continually repeated.
2.
Work raised in protuberances; or a kind of knot consisting of two lists or small fillets interlaced, used as an ornament in architecture.
3.
Agitation of mind; commotion of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret.
Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret.
4.
A short piece of wire fixed on the fingerboard of a guitar, &c., which being pressed against the strings varies the tone.
5.
In heraldry, a bearing composed of bars crossed and interlaced.

FRET

,
Verb.
T.
To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.

FRET

,
Noun.
[L. fretum.] A frith, which see.

Definition 2024

fret

fret

See also: FRET and frêt

English

Verb

fret ‎(third-person singular simple present frets, present participle fretting, simple past fretted or fret or freet or frate, past participle fretted or (usually in compounds) fretten)

  1. (transitive, obsolete/poetic) To devour, consume; eat.
    • (Can we date this quote?)— Piers Ploughman.
      Adam freet of that fruit, And forsook the love of our Lord.
    • Wiseman
      Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation.
  2. (transitive and intransitive) To gnaw, consume, eat away.
  3. (intransitive) To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.
    A wristband frets on the edges.
  4. (transitive) To cut through with fretsaw, create fretwork.
  5. (transitive) To chafe or irritate; to worry.
  6. (intransitive) To worry or be anxious.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.
  7. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Psalms 37:1:
      Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
    • Dryden
      He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground.
  8. To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple.
    to fret the surface of water
  9. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle.
    Rancour frets in the malignant breast.
  10. (music) To press down the string behind a fret.
Translations

Noun

fret ‎(plural frets)

  1. The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
  2. Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
    He keeps his mind in a continual fret.
    • Pope
      Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret.
  3. Herpes; tetter.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dunglison to this entry?)
  4. (mining, in the plural) The worn sides of river banks, where ores, or stones containing them, accumulate by being washed down from the hills, and thus indicate to the miners the locality of the veins.

Etymology 2

From Middle English < Old French, from the verb freter.

Noun

fret ‎(plural frets)

  1. (music) One of the pieces of metal/wood/plastic across the neck of a guitar or other musical instrument that marks note positions for fingering.
  2. An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief).
    • Evelyn
      His lady's cabinet is adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with […] carving.
  3. (heraldry) A saltire interlaced with a mascle.

Verb

fret ‎(third-person singular simple present frets, present participle fretting, simple past and past participle fretted)

  1. To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
    • Spenser
      whose skirt with gold was fretted all about
    • Shakespeare
      Yon grey lines, / That fret the clouds, are messengers of day.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Latin fretum ‎(“strait, channel”)

Noun

fret ‎(plural frets)

  1. A strait; channel.
Related terms

Etymology 4

Unknown

Noun

fret ‎(plural frets)

  1. (dialectal, North East England) A fog or mist at sea or coming inland from the sea.

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛt

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch furet, fret, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *fūrittus, diminutive of Latin fūr ‎(“thief”).

Noun

fret m ‎(plural fretten, diminutive fretje n)

  1. ferret, Mustela putorius furo
See also

Etymology 2

From English fret.

Noun

fret m ‎(plural frets, diminutive fretje n)

  1. (music) fret, on the neck on for example a guitar

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Middle Dutch vrecht, from Old Dutch *frēht, from Proto-Germanic *fra- + *aihtiz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fʁɛ/

Noun

fret m ‎(plural frets)

  1. (shipping) Freight, cargo fees: the cost of transporting cargo by boat.
  2. (by extension) Rental of a ship, in whole or in part.
  3. Freight, cargo, payload (of a ship).
    • 2008 March 9, Reuters, “L'ATV Jules Verne né sous une bonne étoile”,
      Il n'y aura plus alors que les vaisseaux Progress russes pour emmener du fret à bord de la station spatiale, et les Soyouz pour les vols habités.
      So there will only be the Russian Progress shuttles to take freight aboard the space station, and the Soyuz for manned flights.

Descendants

Gothic

Romanization

frēt

  1. Romanization of 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐍄

Old French

Alternative forms

Verb

fret

  1. past participle of fraindre

Noun

fret m ‎(oblique plural frez or fretz, nominative singular frez or fretz, nominative plural fret)

  1. charge (demand of payment in exchange for goods or services)

Etymology

From Middle English freten, from Old English fretan ‎(“to eat up, devour”), from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną ‎(“to devour”), corresponding to for- +‎ eat. Cognate with Dutch vreten, fretten ‎(“to devour, hog, wolf”), Low German freten ‎(“to eat up”), German fressen ‎(“to devour, gobble up, guzzle”), Danish fråse ‎(“to gorge”), Swedish fräta ‎(“to eat away, corrode, fret”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 ‎(fraitan, “to devour”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /frɛt/
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

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