freak
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
freak¹
- /fɹiːk/
- /fɹiːk/ Australia, New Zealand, UK
- /fɹik/ Canada, US, Scotland
- /fɾiːk/ India
Sounds like phreak · Rhymes with -iːk
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *preg-
Proto-Indo-European *-ós
Proto-Germanic *-az
Proto-Germanic *frekaz
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti
Proto-Germanic *-ōną
Proto-Germanic *frekōną
Proto-West Germanic *frekōn
Old English frician?
Old English frīcian
Middle English friken?
▲
Proto-Germanic *frekaz
Proto-West Germanic *frek
Old English frec
English frekder.?
English freak
First attested in 1567. The sense "sudden change of mind, a whim" is of uncertain origin. Probably from a dialectal word related to Middle English frekynge (“capricious behavior; whims”) and Middle English friken, frikien (“to move briskly or nimbly”), from Old English frīcian (“to leap, dance”), or Middle English frek (“insolent, daring”), from Old English frec (“desirous, greedy, eager, bold, daring”), from Proto-West Germanic *frek, from Proto-Germanic *frekaz, *frakaz (“hard, efficient, greedy, bold, audacious”) (in which case, it would be related to the noun under etymology 3). Compare Old High German freh (“eager”), Old English frēcne (“dangerous”).
For the meaning development compare Russian заско́к (zaskók) akin to ско́к (skók), скака́ть (skakátʹ).
noun freaks · freake · freik · freke · frick
- Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable. The two-headed calf was a freak.
- A person who is extremely abnormal in appearance, social behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, or business practices; an oddball, a unique person, originally in a displeasing or alienating way. St. Bart’s was not particularly pleased either with Lake’s methods or with their results, but kept him on because it was fashionable to have at least one distinguished freak on the staff.
- A hippie. When long-haired, outlandishly dressed, drug-using hippies pilgrimaged to Haight-Ashbury in the early 1960s, they were quickly dubbed freaks; the pejorative appellation was both obvious and intended. It was not long before freak had become practically synonymous with hippie. It seems, however, that
- A drug addict. Smith and Sturges [June 1969] note in their study of the San Francisco drug scene that freak means "anyone addicted to drugs."
- A person whose physique has grown far beyond the normal limits of muscular development; often a bodybuilder weighing more than 260 pounds (120 kg).
- An enthusiast, or person who has an obsession with, or extreme knowledge of, something. Bob's a real video-game freak. He owns every games console of the last ten years.
- A very sexually perverse individual. She's a freak in the sheets!
- A wild dance. Get your freak on.
- A sudden change of mind. And then, with heart more hard than stone, ¶ He pick'd my marrow from the bone. ¶ To vex me more, he took a freak ¶ To slit my tongue and make me speak: ¶ But, that which wonderful appears, ¶ I speak to eyes, and not to ears.
- Euphemistic form of fuck (“smallest amount of concern or consideration”).fuck So why am I grieving over someone who doesn't even give a freak about me? These vindictive ideas flowed through my head. A part of me wanted to carve my name into his little Saturn leather seats, but I remembered they weren't leather.
verb freaks · freaking · freaked · freake · freik
- To react extremely or irrationally, usually under distress or discomposure. When the owner found a bunch of beatniks in there, he freaked, but that was later.
- To be placed or place someone under the influence of a psychedelic drug, (especially) to experience reality withdrawal, or hallucinations (nightmarish), to behave irrational or unconventional due to drug use.
adjective freake · freik · freke · frick
- Strange, weird, unexpected. a freak genius
freak²
- /fɹiːk/
- /fɹiːk/ Australia, New Zealand, UK
- /fɹik/ Canada, US, Scotland
- /fɾiːk/ India
Sounds like phreak · Rhymes with -iːk
Where it comes from
The verb is a variant of freck. The noun is derived from the verb.
verb freaks · freaking · freaked · freake · freik
- Alternative spelling of freck (“to cover (someone or something) with small marks or spots; to dapple, to freckle, to speckle”)freck The tufted Crovv-toe, and pale Geſſamine, / The vvhite Pink, and the Panſie freakt vvith jeat, / The glovving Violet.
noun freaks · freake · freik · freke · frick
- A spot or streak of colour.
freak³
- /fɹiːk/
- /fɹiːk/ Australia, New Zealand, UK
- /fɹik/ Canada, US, Scotland
- /fɾiːk/ India
Sounds like phreak · Rhymes with -iːk
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *preg-
Proto-Indo-European *-ós
Proto-Germanic *-az
Proto-Germanic *frekaz
Proto-Indo-European *-ō
Proto-Germanic *-ô
Proto-Germanic *frekô
Old English freca
Middle English freke
English freak
From Middle English freke, freike (“a bold man, warrior, man, creature”), from Old English freca (“a bold man, warrior, hero”), from Proto-Germanic *frekô (“an active or eager man, warrior, wolf”), from *frekaz (“active, bold, desirous, greedy”), from Proto-Indo-European *pereg-, *spereg- (“to shrug, be quick, twitch, splash, blast”).
Cognate with Old Norse freki (“greedy or avaricious one, a wolf”), Old High German freh (“eager”), German frech, Old English frēcne (“dangerous, daring, courageous, bold”).
noun freaks · freake · freik · freke · frick
- A man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man.
- A fellow; a petulant young man.
