Re: [tied] fresh

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 19332
Date: 2003-02-27

The word has been borrowed to and fro between Germanic and Romance, but is ultimately Germanic. I suppose it's a derivative of *prei- 'come first', as in Lat. prior (*prijo:s) and pri:scus (*preisko-): *pri-sko- > PGmc. *friska-. The semantic development would have been 'new, introduced for the first time' > 'raw, untreated' > 'unsalted' etc.

Piotr


----- Original Message -----
From: "alex_lycos" <altamix@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 1:55 PM
Subject: [tied] fresh


> fresh - O.E. fersc "unsalted, pure, sweet, eager." Reversal of -r- and -e- is late 13c., influenced by O.Fr. fres (fem. fresche), from P.Gmc. *friskaz. The sense of "impudent, presumptuous" is U.S. slang, 1848, probably from Ger. frech "insolent, cheeky."