frain

See also: Frain

English

Alternative forms

• frein (Northern England)
• frane (Scotland)
• fraine, frayn, frayne, freyne (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English fraynen, freinen (“to ask”), from Old English freġnan, friġnan (“to ask, inquire, learn”), from Proto-West Germanic *fregnan, from Proto-Germanic *frehnaną (“to ask”), from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to ask, woo”).

Cognates:

Cognate with Icelandic fregna (“to ask, inquire”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fraihnan, “to ask”). Related also to Dutch vragen (“to ask”), German fragen (“to ask”), Norwegian frega (“to ask”), Latin precor (“ask, beseech”), Sanskrit पृच्छति (pṛccháti, “to ask”), Lithuanian prašyti (“to request”), Polish prosić (“to request”).

Verb

frain (third-person singular simple present frains, present participle fraining, simple past and past participle frained)

1. (transitive, dialectal or obsolete) To ask, inquire.
   • 1522, John Skelton, Why come ye nat to Courte:

     Ones yet agayne Of you I wolde frayne, Why come ye nat to court ?

   • 1555, Henry Parker, The Exposition and Declaration of the Psalme Deus ultionum dominus, XXVIII.:

     Theyr myndes disdayne: Gods actes to frain [...]

   • c. 1574, William Strothers (clerk), Deposition of Thomas Hunter, in "The Will of Humphrey Hopper", in Depositions and Other Ecclesiastical Proceedings from the Courts of Durham: Extending from 1311 to the Reign of Elizabeth:

     And so answerd ever when so the said Umphra frayned the said Thomas; and otherwaies this examinate never hard the said Thomas speak anything of himself to any bodye, duringe the spaic of an hower or more, that this examinate was with the said Thomas.

   • 1592, William Warner, Albion's England. Book VII:

     I, musing, frain'd her meaning: she / Her meaning thus did tell.

   • 1803, William Stuart Rose, transl., Amadis de Gaula, A Poem in Three Books, page 160:

     Nor far had spurr'd the warrior, ere a crew Of hinds and sun-burnt woodmen met his view, Frayn'd by the knight, they told, a beauteous maid, Who, loudly shrieking, call'd on heav'n for aid, [...]

   • 1807, Samuel Henshall, translating "The Durham Book" (c. 900); The Gothic Gospel of Saint Matthew:

     But Jesus stood before the count; yea the count frayned him, quothing, thou is king of the Jews? but Jesus quoth to him, thou quoths.

Derived terms

• fraining

Anagrams

• Irfan, infra, infra-

Middle English

Verb

frain

1. Alternative form of fraynen

Old French

Etymology

From Latin frenum.

Noun

frain oblique singular, m (oblique plural frainz, nominative singular frainz, nominative plural frain)

1. bit (equipment placed in a horse's mouth)

Descendants

• French: frein

Scots

Alternative forms

• frane, frayn, frayne

Etymology

From Middle English fraynen, frainen, freinen, from Old English freġnan (“to ask”) and Old Norse fregna (“to ask”), from Proto-Germanic *frehnaną.

Verb

frain (third-person singular simple present frains, present participle frainin, simple past fraint, past participle fraint)

1. (transitive) to ask, ask about, ask for
2. to enquire
3. (intransitive) to make inquiry
4. to request

Related terms

• fraining

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vrai̯n/

Noun

frain

1. Soft mutation of brain.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
brain	frain	mrain	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.