fre

Forms

fre m (plural frens)^[1] The archaic form fren appears in a document of 1252 and is still used by Ausiàs March and Jaume Roig.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin frēnum (“bridle, bit”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The oldest record keeps the final /n/ in the spelling ⟨fren⟩.^[2]

The same Latin word is Occitan fren, French frein, Spanish freno, Italian freno, Portuguese freio and Romanian frâu.^[6][1]

De Vaan reconstructs *frēno- and a Proto-Indo-European form meaning “holding”, and Wiktionary takes it to the root *dʰer- (“to hold”).^[7][1]

The verb frenar is not inherited from the Latin verb: Coromines dates it to about 1900 and treats it as a new formation that replaced the traditional refrenar, sofrenar, afrenar and enfrenar, which is why desenfrenar is still the basic word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines's first record is a document of 1252 listing forçat de fren, tres diners, a charge of three diners on a bit.^[2] Llull uses the word for the bit of a horse, and in the Medicina de pecat of 1272 he asks to be held so firmly by the bit that he can do nothing against God's love.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

In the Orde de cavalleria Llull makes the bit a symbol: the horse is given a bit so that the knight may curb his mouth from false and ugly words.^[2][9] The figurative restraint is common later;^[2] Joanot Martorell wants a ruler to have spurs for rewarding and a bit for punishing.^[2] The trade was organised early: frener “bit maker” is recorded in 1358 and freneria in the 13th century, and the Barcelona bit makers were famous.^[2]

The mechanical sense of a device that stops or slows a machine is in Fabra's dictionary of 1932.^[10] The DCVB and the DIEC2 add the anatomical fold that limits the movement of an organ, as in fre de la llengua.^[3][11]

Timeline

• 1252 – fren in a document published by Capmany.^[2]
• 1272 – Llull's Medicina de pecat.^[8]
• 1358 – frener “bit maker”.^[2]
• c. 1375 – enfrenar in Pere III's chronicle.^[2][4]
• 1385 – an inventory of the infanta Joana lists an enamelled fren e pitral.^[8]
• c. 1900 – the verb frenar.^[2][4]
• 1932 – Fabra gives the sense of a machine's brake.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. bit, the iron piece put in the mouth of a horse or mule, to which the reins are tied.^[11][5][1]
2. (figurative) A curb or restraint on an action or passion: La seva ambició no coneix fre.^[11][5]
3. brake, the mechanism that slows or stops a machine or vehicle;^[11][12][1] fre de mà, handbrake.^[11][12][1]
4. (textiles) A device that stops a mechanical loom, or keeps a thread or warp beam under tension.^[11]
5. (anatomy) frenulum, a fold of membrane that limits the movement of an organ.^[11][3][1]

Word family

• enfrenar
• desenfrenar
• desenfrenat
• refrenar
• sofrenar
• frenar
• frenada
• frener
• freneria
• afrenellar

Related words

• Latin frēnum
• Spanish freno
• Occitan fren

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 4, 179
3. ^ a b c Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. fre
4. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 423
5. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. fre
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3496
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. fre
9. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. fre
10. ^ a b Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. fre
11. ^ a b c d e f g Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. fre
12. ^ a b Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. fre