Re: fresh

Hi Alex, hi all

<<<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."<<<
<<< My dictionary means the German "frisch" should be a loan from the early
Romance,see Italian "fresco", French "frais" The Italian word is seen as a
loanword from French.<<<

I found that French "frais" (freis, fresche; 1080, Chanson de Rolande) is an
early Frankic loan, and hence Germanic. (Rey: Dictionnaire hisotorique de la
langue français).
Also Kluge (German -- "Ausgermanisch keine sichere entsprechung"), the OED,
Van Dale Etymologisch Woordenboek (Dutch, which has both ModDu. 'vers' and
'fris') on the one hand, and Dictionário Etymológico Nova Frontiera
(Portuguese) on the other hand, seem to suggest it's the other way round,
viz. that at least French and Portuguese borrowed it from a Germanic source.
No idea about Italian 'fresco', but looking at the first attestations of the
French word "freis" and the Pgmc *friskaz, i strongly doubt it's a loan from
French.

Best regards,

Frank