frazil 
anchor-ice clings around the boulders at the bot- 
tom of a stream.] Anchor-ice. [Canada.] 
It has been suggested that it may be due to the accumu- 
lation of frazil or anchor-ice. 
The Gazette (Montreal), March 17, 1888. 
fret, a. A Middle English form of free. 
freak 1 (frek), n. [Early mod. E. freake = Sc. 
freik, freke, frick; < ME. freke, freike, a bold 
man, a warrior, a man, < Ao.freca, a bold man, 
a warrior, < free, greedy, eager, bold (cf. gutli- 
/rec, eager for battle) : see freck 1 , f rack 1 . Cf. 
freak*.] If. A man, particularly a bold, strong, 
vigorous man. 
Godus Trend may the freke frely be called. 
Alex, and Diiidimtis (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), 1. 1004. 
As a freke that fre were, forth gan I walke. 
Piers Plowman (B), xiii. 2. 
A Freake, gigantulus. 
Levins, Manip. Vocab. (E. E. T. S.), p. 206. 
2. A fellow; more commonly, a petulant young 
man. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
Quod I, Loune, thou lets, 
Ha, wald thou fecht, quod the freik, we haue Dot few 
swordls. Gavin Dowjlat, tr. of Virgil, p. 239. 
freak 2 (frek), . [First recorded in Spenser's 
time ; origin uncertain ; perhaps < ME. freke, 
frike, bold, vigorous, quick, eager, hasty, etc. : 
see freck 1 , and cf. freak 1 , esp. in def. 2.] 1. 
A sudden and apparently causeless change or 
turn of the mind ; a wilful whim or vagary ; a 
capricious notion or prank. 
"Oh ! but I feare the nckle /rentes" (quoth shee) 
" Of fortune false." Spenser, F. Q., I. Iv. 60. 
She is so exquisitely restless and peevish that she quar- 
rels with all about her, and sometimes in a freak will in- 
stantly change her habitation. Steele, Spectator, No. 427. 
If a man's action did not represent his character, but an 
arbitrary freak of some unaccountable power of unmotived 
willing, why should he be ashamed of it or reproach him- 
self with it? T. 11. Green, Prolegomena to Ethics, 1 110. 
2. An abnormal object or production ; a strange 
or curious result of real or apparent vagary : as, 
a freak of art or of nature. 
Thy most magnificent and mighty freak [Catharine II. 's 
ice palace], 
The wonder of the North. Cowper, Task, v. 130. 
He gave his name as Ellis Rhlnehart, a circus/rent. . . . 
He is 33 inches in height. 
Philadelphia Times, March 31, 1886. 
Freak Of nature, a monstrosity ; a malformation ; an 
abnormal organism ; in the variety-show business, a per- 
son or an animal on exhibition as showing some strange 
deviation from nature, as a bearded woman or an albino. 
=Syn. Whimsey, humor, crotchet, quirk, vagary, antic, 
caper; Freak, Wliim, Prank. The last three agree In 
a whim is eccentric ; a prank is ludicrous or of the nature 
of a practical joke : as, the mad pranks of a Falatalf. 
If a sum was bestowed on the wretched adventurer, 
such as, properly husbanded, might have supplied him 
for six months, it was instantly spent in strange freaks of 
sensuality. ilacaulay, Boswell's Johnson. 
I care not how men trace their ancestry, 
To ape or Adam : let them please their whim. 
Lowell, Under the Willows. 
Two children in two neighbour villages 
Playing mad pranks along the heathy leas. 
Tennyson, Circumstance. 
freak 2 (frek), v. i. [< freak*, n.] To gambol ; 
frolic. 
Then glad they left their covert lair, 
And freaked about in the midnight air. 
J. R. Drake, Culprit Fay, st. 20. 
freak 3 (frek), v. t. [Var. of f reck 2 , simple form 
of freckle, v.: see freck*, freckle.] To variegate; 
streak or fleck. 
The white pink, and the pansy freak'd with jet. 
Hilton, Lycidas, 1. 144. 
Sables, of glossy black ; and dark embrowned, 
Or, beauteous, freaked with many a mingled hue. 
Thomson, Winter, 1. 814. 
The path was strewn with old claret box-berries, gray 
mosses, brown leaves, freaked with fresh green shoots. 
S. Judd, Margaret, ii. 1. 
freak 3 (frek), [</razfc 3 ,t>.] A splash, fleck, 
or streak of color. 
These quaint freaks of russet (In an old book] tell of 
Montaigne. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 292. 
freakful (frek'ful), a. [<freak* + -ful.'] Freak- 
ish; capricious. 
Jove heard his vows and better'd his desire ; 
For by some freakful chance he made retire 
From his companions, and set forth to walk. 
Keats, Lamia, i. 230. 
freakiness (fre'ki-nes), n. The quality of being 
freaky; capriciousness. 
No other species seems to show such peculiar freakiness 
of character, both individually and locally. 
T. Roosevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 347. 
freaking (fre'king), p. a. [Ppr. of freak*, i>.] 
Freakish; eccentric. [Rare.] 
2366 
Visited Sir J. Minnes, who continues ill, but he told me 
what a m&Afreakimj fellow Sir Ellis Layton hutli been. and 
is, and once at Antwerp was really mad. 
Pepys, Diary, Jan. 25, 1664. 
freakish (fre'kish), a. [< freak* + -wftl.] Ad- 
dicted to freaks ; resulting from or caused by 
a freak; capricious; whimsical; fantastic. 
Bless me ! What/ro*t/i Gambols have I play'd ! 
Steele, Conscious Lovers, Epil. 
Thou wouldst have thought a fairy's hand 
Twixt poplars straight the osier wand 
In many & freakish knot had twined. 
Scott, L. of L. M., ii. 1. 
Thefreakuh wind among the mists 
Moulds them as sculptors mould the yielding clay. 
Bryant, Tale of Cloudland. 
freakishly (fre'kish-li), adv. In a freakish man- 
ner ; capriciously. Bailey, 1727. 
freakishness (fre'kish-nes), . The quality of 
being freakish ; capriciousness. 
All freakishness of mind is checked ; 
He tamed, who foolishly aspires. 
Wordsworth, Bob Roy's Grave. 
freaky (fre'ki), a. [< freak* + -yl.] Given to 
freaks; capricious; whimsical. 
freamt, v. i. [= F. fremir, rustle, shake, trem- 
ble, < L. frcmere, rustle, murmur, roar: see 
brim 1 .] To roar ; make a din. 
Hudge fluds lowdlye/reammjr from mountayns loftye be 
trowlling. Slanihurlt, .t'.iiciil, iv. 169. 
freasadowet, . See/raado. 
freatet, An obsolete form of fret 1 . Ascham. 
freck 1 (frek), a. [Now only Sc., also written 
frack; < ME. frek, freke, frik, frike, frecche, bold, 
vigorous, lively, quick, < AS. frcc,frtec, greedy, 
eager, audacious, bold, = OD. vreck, greedy, 
avaricious, miserly, D. vrek, D., a miser, = MLG. 
vrak = OHG. freh, frech, greedy, avaricious, 
MHG. vrech, Or. frech, audacious, bold, insolent, 
= Icel. frekr, greedy, voracious, = Bm.fraek = 
Dan. frcek, audacious, impudent, = Goth./rfc, 
greedy, only in comp. faihu-frilcs, greedy for 
money, avaricious (faihu = AS. feoli, E. fee, 
money). Cf. freak 1 , a man, and freak*, a ca- 
price.] If. Eager; lively; quick; ready. 
With lordes and with knlghtes kene 
And other doghty men bydene (besides] 
That war tulfrek to fight. Minot, Poems, p. 15. 
ek as fuyre in the flint 
e in armes had hyre hynt. 
Sir Degrcvant, \. 1365. 
Loue is hotter than the cole 
To hem that of it is fayn A frike. 
Hymni to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 23. 
2f. Bold; audacious. 
Ac Sathanas the frecche the saule wule drecche (But 
Satan the audacious will vex the soul]. 
Old Eng. Miscellany, p. 75. 
Faughte with the frekkeste that to Fraunce lougez. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), I. 2164. 
The Egle isfrikest fowle in flye, 
Oner all fowles to wawe hys wenge. 
Holy Rood (ed. Morris), p. 221. 
3. Active; vigorous; stout. 
My floures ben fallen, and my frike age. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2204. 
Fortune's cudgell, let me tell, 
Is no a willie-wauD, Sir : 
The freckest whiles hae own't her d< night. 
Picken, Poems (1783), p. 159. 
freck 2 (frek), v. t. [A later form of freckle, 
taken as the simple form; also freak 3 , q. v.] 
Same as freckle. 
frecken (frek'n), . [Also frekon; < ME. 
freken, fraken, frakyn, pi. freknes, fraknes, < 
Icel. freknur, pi., = Sw. frakna (pi. frdknor) = 
Dan. fregne (pi. fregner) = Norw. frekna (pi. 
freknor,fraknor,fruknaar), slsofrokle, freckle. 
Cf. Gr. nepKvof, sprinkled with dark spots. Cf. 
freckle.'] A freckle. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
A fewe/rot?K8 in his face yspreynd. 
Chaucer, Knight s Tale, 1. 1311. 
Wrinkles, pimples, redde streekes, freckons, halres, 
warts, neves, inequalities. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 558. 
freckened (frek'nd), a. [< ME. frakned; < 
frecken + -ed*.~\ Freckled. 
freckle (frek'l), n. [Early mod. E. freckel, frek- 
ell, freccle, a later form (with equiv. -el for -en) 
of frecken: see frecken."} 1. A brownish-yel- 
low spot in the skin, particularly on the face, 
neck, or hands, either hereditary or produced 
by exposure to the sun. These spots usually 
occur in large number, and are due to increase 
in the pigment of the lower layers of the epi- 
dermis. 
If there appeare in theyr fleshe a glysterynge whyte 
somewhat blackishe, then it is but frrckels groen vp In 
the skinne ; and he is cleane. Bible of 1551, Lev. xii. 
The clear shade of tan, and the half a dozen freckles, 
friendly remembrancers of the April sun and breeze. 
Hawthorne, Seven Oables, v. 
fret 
Hei 
free 
2. Any small spot or discoloration ; a fleck. 
So far was lie from the giving of any diligence to earthly 
things, that lie seemed somewhat besprent with the freckle 
of negligence. 
Sir T. More, Life of Picus, in Utopia, Int., p. Ixxix. 
The cowslips tall her pensioners be ; 
In their gold coats spots you see ; . . . 
In those freckles live their savours. 
Shak., M. N. D., ii. 1. 
freckle (frek'l), v. ; pret. and pp. freckled, ppr. 
freckling. [< freckle, n.] I. trans. To mark 
with freckles or spots: as, his face vr&a freckled 
by the sun. 
Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard. 
Keats, Lamia, i. 
II. intrans. To become covered with freckles : 
as, the face freckles by exposure. 
freckled (frek'ld), p. a. 1. Marked with freck- 
les or spots: as, & freckled face. 2. Marked 
with small, irregular, and riot very distinct 
spots, resembling freckles on a face. 
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth 
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover. 
Shak., Hen. V., v. 2. 
He's set his twa sons on coal-black steeds, 
Himsell upon & freckled gray. 
Jamie Telfer (Child's Ballads, VI. 109). 
The crisp boughs of the pomegranate loaded with 
freckled apples, and with here and there a lingering scar- 
let blossom. G. W. Cable, Old Creole Days, p. 86. 
Freckled sandpiper. See sandpiper. 
freckledness (frek'ld-nes), . The state of 
being freckled. 
freckle-faced (frek'1-fast), a. Having a face 
marked with freckles. 
freckling (frek'ling), M. A spot ; a fleck. 
A deep volcanian yellow took the place 
Of all her milder-mooned body's grace ; . . . 
Made gloom of all her freckling*, streaks, and bars, 
Eclipsed her crescents, and lick'd up her stars. 
Keats, Lamia, t. 
freckly 1 (frek'li), a. [_< freckle + -y 1 .] Marked 
or covered with freckles. 
Thus on tobacco does he hourly feed, 
And plumps Ms freckly cheeks with stinking weed. 
Tom Brown, Works, I. 117. 
freckly 2 (frek'li), adv. [< freck 1 + -ly*.~\ 1. 
Hurriedly. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
Thane folous/reiMt/ one fote freckkes ynewe, 
And of the Romayns arrayed appone ryche stedes. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1360. 
2. Boldly; eagerly. 
When thies batels full bold were to bent comyn, 
Thay hurlit furth hard to the hegh lauud, 
ffrickly there fos found for to greue. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), I. 8994. 
frecknesst, . [ME. * freknes, freykenesse ; < 
freck 1 + -ness.] Eagerness; boldness; zeal. 
frecknyt. . [< ME. /rafcny; < frecken + -y 1 .] 
Freckled. 
fredon (fre-d6n'), n. [F., a trill, < fredonner, 
trill.] In music, melodic embellishment ; espe- 
cially, a trill or a tremolo. 
fredricite (fred'ri-sit), . [< Sw. Fredrik (ML. 
Fredericus) + -He*; named by Sjogren from the 
particular shaft (called Frederick's) in which 
the mineral was found.] A variety of arsen- 
ical tetrahedrite, or tennantite, peculiar iu con- 
taining some lead, silver, and tin, found at the 
Falun mine in Sweden. 
fredstolet, Same as frithstool. 
free (fre), a. and n. [< ME. free, fre, freo, also 
fri, fry, < AS. fre6, frio, frig, fri, fry = OS. fri (in 
frilic, free-born) = OFries./n = D. fry = MLG. 
m, vrig, vrig, LG./rt (> Icel. /,/ = Sw. Dan. 
fri) = OHG. fri, MHG. m, G. frei = Goth. 
frets (ace. m. frijana; stem/rya-), free; orig. 
meaning appar. 'loved, spared, favored,' hence 
'left at liberty' ; in active sense, ' loving, spar- 
ing, generous'; cf. Skt. priya, dear, < V fft, 
please. See the related words friend, frith 1 , 
Friday, Frigga, etc.] I. a. 1. Not subjected 
to physical ormoral restriction or control, either 
absolutely or in one or more particulars ; able 
to act without external controlling interfer- 
ence ; being at liberty : said of persons and 
of their acts or functions : as, free thought ; 
a free conscience; free will or choice; the 
prisoner was set free ; he was free to go or to 
stay. 
Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ 
hath made UK free. Gal. v. 1. 
Others apart sat on a hill retired, 
In thought more elevate, and reason'd high 
Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate ; 
Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute. 
Milton, P. L., ii. 560. 
So far as a man has a power to think or not to think, to 
move or not to move, according to the preference or direc- 
tion of his own mind, so far is a man free. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. xxl. 8. 
