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frith

English

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frith¹

  • /fɹɪθ/

Rhymes with -ɪθ

Where it comes from

From Middle English frith, from Old English friþ, friþu (“peace, tranquility, security, refuge”), from Proto-West Germanic *friþu, from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace, reconciliation”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“beloved, happy”).

Cognate with Dutch vrede (“peace, quiet, tranquility”), German Frieden (“peace, tranquility”), Danish fred (“peace, serenity”), Swedish frid (“peace, serenity”), Icelandic friður (“peace, tranquility”). Related to free.

noun

  1. archaic, poetic, rare, uncountable Peace; security. Thus the king declares that he wants to see his peace or 'frith' extended to his people and that moots are urged to frith all that the king wills to be frithed
  2. obsolete, uncountable Sanctuary, asylum.

frith²

  • /fɹɪθ/

Rhymes with -ɪθ

Where it comes from

From Middle English frithen, from Old English friþian (“to give frith to, make peace with, be at peace with, cherish, protect, guard, defend, keep, observe”), from Proto-Germanic *friþōną (“to make peace, secure, protect”), from Proto-Indo-European *prēy-, *prāy- (“to like, love”).

Cognate with Scots frethe, freith (“to set free, liberate”), Danish frede (“to have peace, protect, inclose, fence in”), Swedish freda (“to cover, protect, quiet, inclose, fence in”), Icelandic friða (“to make peace, preserve”).

verb friths · frithing · frithed · freath

  1. obsolete, transitive To protect; guard. This monument and the Cairns themselves have been purchast by the State, and are now therefore "frithed", protected and national property.
  2. obsolete, transitive To enclose; fence in, as a forest or park. On the other of these improvements, the base of the mound was six feet, its height five feet, and breadth at the top nearly the same; this, with the side-drains or ditches on each side, made the whole scite of the fence about 12 feet; cost of raising the mound and frithing, 4s . per perch.

frith³

  • /fɹɪθ/

Rhymes with -ɪθ

Where it comes from

From Middle English frith (“forest, woodland; hedging”), from Old English fyrhþe, fyrhþ (“forest, wooded country; game preserve, hunting ground”), from Proto-West Germanic *furhiþi (“forest, woodland”), Proto-Germanic *furhiþją (“forest, wooded country”), *furhiþǭ, from *furhu (“fir; pine”), from *furahō, *furhō (“fir; pine; (fir or pine) forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus (“oak”), from *perkʷ- (“oak”).

The English word is cognate with Latin quercus (“oak”), Old English fyrh (“fir, pine”), Old High German forst, foreht (“forest”), Old Norse fýri (“pine-wood, coniferous forest”). Latin foresta (whence eventually English forest), may be borrowed from the same West Germanic source.

noun friths

  1. A forest or wood; woodland generally. As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and Fell; [...]
  2. UK, dialectal Land with mostly undergrowth and few trees; also, land in between forests or woods; pastureland which is not in use.
  3. Brushwood or undergrowth, sometimes in the form of a hedge.
  4. A hedge, especially one made from brushwood which has been wattled; also, a movable frame made from wattled branches, a hurdle.
  5. obsolete A kind of weir made from wattled branches for catching fish.

frith⁴

  • /fɹɪθ/

Rhymes with -ɪθ

Where it comes from

A metathetic variant of firth.

noun friths

  1. alternative, archaic Alternative form of firth (“an arm or inlet of the sea”). He [Agricola] had observed, that the island [Britannia; now Great Britain] is almost divided into two unequal parts by the opposite gulfs, or, as they are now called, the Friths of Scotland.

Frith⁵

Where it comes from

English and Scottish surname, spelling variant of Firth.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A town in Montserrat (in the safe zone).

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Cite this
MLA

"frith." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/frith. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

frith. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/frith

Chicago

"frith." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/frith.

BibTeX
@misc{frith_2026,
  title = {frith},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/frith},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}