fri

See also: Fri, frí, frî, and -fri

Bislama

Etymology

From English free.

Adjective

fri

1. free; independent

---

Breton

Etymology

Cognate with Cornish frig (“nostril”); perhaps related to Proto-Celtic *srognā (compare Welsh ffroen (“nostril”), Old Irish srón (“nose”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfriː/

Noun

fri m (plural frioù)

1. (anatomy) nose

---

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /friː/, [fʁiːˀ]
• (Hardsysselsk) IPA^(key): [fʁitʃː]
• Rhymes: -i
• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle Low German vrīen (“to marry”), from Old Saxon friohon.

Verb

fri (imperative fri, present frier or frir, past friede, past participle friet)

1. to propose (to ask for one's hand in marriage)

Derived terms

• frier (“suitor”)
• frieri (“proposal”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle Low German vrī.

Adjective

fri (neuter frit, plural and definite singular attributive frie, comparative friere, superlative (predicative) friest, superlative (attributive) frieste)

1. free
2. vacant, unoccupied
3. available

Derived terms

• ufri (“constrained, inhibited, not free”)

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Middle Low German vrīen (“to free”), from the adjective vri (“free”).

Verb

fri (imperative fri, present frier or frir, past friede, past participle friet)

1. to free (to make free)

References

• “fri” in Den Danske Ordbog

---

Irish

Preposition

fri (plus dative, triggers h-prothesis)

1. Obsolete form of fré.

---

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish fri, from Proto-Celtic *writ- (compare Welsh wrth, prefix gwrth-), from the zero grade of Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”) (compare Latin versus (“against”)).

Preposition

fri (takes accusative)

1. towards, to
   • c. 1000, The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig, section 1, published in Irische Teste, vol. 1 (1880), edited by Ernst Windisch:

     Ro·ferad failte friu uile, ocus ructha chuci-sium isin mbruidin.

     They were all made welcome and brought to him in the hall.

     (literally, “A welcome was provided to them all…”)

Inflection

• Third-person plural accusative: friu

Descendants

• Irish: fré
• Manx: rish
• Scottish Gaelic: ri

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German vrī. Cognates include Danish fri, Swedish fri, German frei, Dutch vrei, English free, and Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍃 (freis)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɾiː/

Adjective

fri (neuter singular fritt, definite singular and plural frie, comparative friere, indefinite superlative friest, definite superlative frieste)

1. free, not imprisoned or enslaved

   en fri mann ― a free man

2. free, not blocked

   fri ferdsel ― free traffic

3. free, no payment necessary

   fri inngang ― free admission

Derived terms

Terms derived from fri

• alkoholfri
• bilfri
• blyfri
• daddelfri
• fribord
• fridag
• frifinne
• frifot, på frifot
• frigi
• frigjøre
• frihavn
• friidrett
• frikjenne

• frikoble
• friluft
• frimerke
• friminutt
• frispark
• frita
• fritenker
• fritid
• frittgående
• frittstående
• gjestfri
• glutenfri

• isfri
• luktfri
• rentefri
• risikofri
• skyfri
• smertefri
• snøfri
• sukkerfri
• tollfri
• valgfri
• vannfri
• vedlikeholdsfri

References

• “fri” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /friː/

Etymology 1

From Middle Low German vrī. Akin to English free.

Adjective

fri (neuter singular fritt, definite singular and plural frie, comparative friare, indefinite superlative friast, definite superlative friaste)

1. free, not imprisoned or enslaved

   ein fri mann ― a free man

2. free, not blocked

   fri ferdsel ― free traffic

3. free, no payment necessary

   fri inngang ― free admission

Derived terms

Terms derived from fri

• alkoholfri
• bilfri
• fribord
• fridag
• frifinne
• frifot, på frifot
• friidrett
• friluft

• frimerke
• friminutt
• frispark
• frita
• fritid
• gjestfri
• glutenfri
• isfri

• luktfri
• rentefri
• risikofri
• skyfri
• smertefri
• snøfri
• sukkerfri
• tollfri

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German vrien and Old Norse frjá (“to love”).

Alternative forms

• fria, frie

Verb

fri (present tense frir, past tense fridde, past participle fridd/fritt, passive infinitive friast, present participle friande, imperative fri)

1. to propose (marriage)

Derived terms

• friar
• frieri
• frieri

Etymology 3

From Old Norse fría, from fri (Etymology 1).

Alternative forms

• fria, frie

Verb

fri (present tense frir, past tense fridde, past participle fridd/fritt, passive infinitive friast, present participle friande, imperative fri)

1. to free

Anagrams

• fir

---

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *frī.

Adjective

frī

1. free, unbound

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: vri
  • Dutch: vrij

Further reading

• “frī”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

---

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *frī

Adjective

fri

1. free

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: fräi
• West Frisian: frij

---

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *frī.

Adjective

frī

1. free

Derived terms

• frīginōz

Descendants

• Middle High German: vrī
  • German: frei
  • Luxembourgish: fräi
  • Vilamovian: frȧj
  • Yiddish: פֿרײַ‎ (fray)

---

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *writ- (compare Welsh wrth, prefix gwrth-), from the zero grade of Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”) (compare Latin versus (“against”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʲrʲi/

Preposition

fri (takes accusative)

1. towards, to
2. against
3. with
4. (governing a verbal noun) about to

For quotations using this term, see Citations:fri.

Inflection

Inflection of fri

Person	Normal	Emphatic
1st person sing.	frimm, frium(m)	fri(u)msa
2d person sing.	frit(t), friut(t)	fritso, fritsu
3d sing. masc./neut., dative
3d sing. masc./neut., accusative	fris(s)	frissom, frissium
3d sing. fem., dative
3d sing. fem., accusative	frie
1st person pl.	frinn	frinn(a)i
2d person pl.	frib	fribsi
3d person pl., dative
3d person pl., accusative	friu	friusom

Forms combined with the definite article:

• frisin, frissin (m sg or f sg accusative)
• frisa, frisss (n sg accusative)
• frisna (pl accusative)

Forms combined with the relative particle:

• frisa, frissa

Forms combined with a possessive determiner:

• frim (first-person singular)
• frit (second-person singular)
• fria (third-person singular/plural)

Descendants

• Middle Irish: fri
  • Irish: fré
  • Manx: rish
  • Scottish Gaelic: ri

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “fri”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940, reprinted 2003) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, §§ 433, 839, pages 272–73, 514–15

---

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *frī.

Adjective

frī (comparative frīoro, superlative frīost)

1. free

Declension

Positive forms of frī

Strong declension
gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	frī	frīe	frī	frīe	frī	frīu
accusative	frīana	frīe	frī	frīe	frīa	frīu
genitive	frīes	frīarō	frīes	frīarō	frīaro	frīarō
dative	frīumu	frīum	frīumu	frīum	frīaro	frīum
Weak declension
gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	frīo	frīu	frīa	frīu	frīa	frīu
accusative	frīun	frīun	frīa	frīun	frīun	frīun
genitive	frīun	frīonō	frīun	frīonō	frīun	frīonō
dative	frīun	frīum	frīun	frīum	frīun	frīum

Comparative forms of frī (weak only)

gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	frīoro	frīoru	frīora	frīoru	frīora	frīoru
accusative	frīorun	frīorun	frīora	frīorun	frīorun	frīorun
genitive	frīorun	frīoronō	frīorun	frīoronō	frīorun	frīoronō
dative	frīorun	frīorum	frīorun	frīorum	frīorun	frīorum

Superlative forms of frī

Strong declension
gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	frīost	frīoste	frīost	frīoste	frīost	frīostu
accusative	frīostana	frīoste	frīost	frīoste	frīosta	frīostu
genitive	frīostes	frīostarō	frīostes	frīostarō	frīostaro	frīostarō
dative	frīostumu	frīostum	frīostumu	frīostum	frīostaro	frīostum
Weak declension
gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	frīosto	frīostu	frīosta	frīostu	frīosta	frīostu
accusative	frīostun	frīostun	frīosta	frīostun	frīostun	frīostun
genitive	frīostun	frīostonō	frīostun	frīostonō	frīostun	frīostonō
dative	frīostun	frīostum	frīostun	frīostum	frīostun	frīostum

Descendants

• Middle Low German: vri, vrîg
  • Low German: fri, free, frigg
  • → Danish: fri
  • → Estonian: prii
  • → Faroese: fríur
  • → Latvian: brīvs
  • → Livonian: brī
  • → Norwegian: fri
  • → Swedish: fri

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *frijō.

Noun

frī f

1. woman

References

• Joseph Wright, An Old English Grammar (Oxford 1908)

---

Scots

Etymology

From Old English fram

Preposition

fri

1. (South Scots) from

See also

• frae
• thrae
• thri

---

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From English free.

Adjective

fri

1. free

Verb

fri

1. to set free

Noun

fri

1. freedom

---

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle Low German vri, from Old Saxon frī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /friː/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Adjective

fri

1. free, unconstrained
2. free, not imprisoned, released

   fri mot borgen ― released on bail

3. free, without obligations

   Du är fri att göra som du vill.

   You are free to do as you please.

4. free of charge, gratis

Declension

Inflection of fri
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative2
Common singular	fri	friare	friast
Neuter singular	fritt	friare	friast
Plural	fria	friare	friast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular1	frie	friare	friaste
All	fria	friare	friaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.

Derived terms

• alkolholfri
• alliansfri
• avgiftsfri
• bombfri
• felfri
• fria
• frige
• frigöra
• frihamn
• frihandel
• friherre
• friherrinna
• frihet
• friidrott
• frikostig
• frikyrka
• frikänna
• frikår
• friland
• frilans
• friliggande
• frilufts-
• frilägga
• frimurare
• frimärke
• fripassagerare
• frisim
• frisinnad
• frisinne
• friskola
• frisläppa
• frispark
• fristad
• fristat
• fristil
• fristående
• frita
• fritid
• fritt
• frivillig
• frostfri
• isfri
• kostnadsfri
• momsfri
• mötesfri
• ofri
• problemfri
• receptfri
• reklamfri
• rostfri
• skattefri
• valfri

 

---

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vriː/

Noun

fri

1. Soft mutation of bri.

Mutation

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