frame

Pronunciation

• IPA: /freɪm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English framen,^[2][3] inherited from Old English framian (“to profit, be helpful, avail”),^[4][2][5] from fram “active, bold”, originally “going forward”, from fram “forward”, which also became the preposition from in English.^[4][2][6] It was influenced by the related Old English fremman “to help forward, promote; to do, make”,^[4][2] and by Old Norse fremja “to further, execute” and frama.^[4][2][5] Compare German frommen “to avail, benefit”.^[4] The noun is from the verb and in part from Old Norse frami “advancement”.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To profit, be of service”: about 961 in the OED and Barnhart.^[7][2] “To make progress, prosper” is from before 1050.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the sense narrowed from “to make ready”, from the mid-13th century, to “to prepare timber for building”, from the late 14th century,^[4][6][7] and so to shaping or constructing in general.^[5] “To compose, devise” is probably from before 1400 in Barnhart,^[2] the 1540s in Etymonline.^[4] “To fabricate a story with evil intent” is from 1514,^[2][4] “to plot in secret” from 1900, and the criminal slang sense “to incriminate an innocent person” from the 1920s,^[4] with the noun frame, a frame-up, from 1914.^[7] The noun meant profit or benefit about 1200 and a composition or plan about 1250;^[2][4] the supporting parts of a structure fitted together are from about 1400,^[4] the human body from the 1590s,^[4] and an enclosing border from about 1600, of a picture or pane from the 1660s.^[4] Frame of mind is from 1711, in Steele's Spectator,^[2][4] framework from 1644, in Milton's Areopagitica,^[2] and a frame house, of wood, from 1777 in American English.^[2] A bicycle frame is from 1871, a car's from 1900,^[4] a single picture of a film from 1916,^[4] and frame of reference from 1897.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 961 – to profit.^[7][2]
• c. 1200 – noun, profit.^[2]
• c. 1250 – to make ready; noun, a plan.^[7][2]
• late 14th century – to prepare timber.^[4]
• c. 1400 – a structure.^[4]
• 1514 – to fabricate a story.^[2]
• 1590s – the human body.^[4]
• 1644 – framework.^[2]
• 1660s – a picture frame.^[4]
• 1711 – frame of mind.^[2][4]
• 1916 – a film frame.^[4]
• 1920s – to incriminate falsely.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A structure that gives shape or support, as of a building or a vehicle.
2. An open border or case that holds or surrounds something, as a picture or window.
3. The build of the human body: a slight frame.
4. A general structure or system.
5. A state of mind: in a good frame of mind.
6. One of the single pictures in a film strip.
7. In bowling or snooker, a single round of play.
8. (slang) A frame-up.

Verb

1. To put into a frame.
2. To construct by putting the parts together.
3. To put into words; to formulate: frame a question.
4. To plan or design.
5. (informal) To make an innocent person appear guilty by false evidence.

Word family

• framer
• frameless
• enframe
• reframe

Related words

• framework
• frame-up
• from

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press