frantic

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English frantik, a variant of frentik and frenetik,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French frenetique (modern French frénétique),^[5][6][7][8] from Late Latin phrenēticus (“delirious”),^[5][9][10] from Ancient Greek φρενιτικός (phrenitikós, “mad, delirious”),^[5][8] from φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “delirium”), from φρήν (phrḗn, “mind”).^[11][5][4] The change of the first vowel from e to a has never been explained;^[12][4][11] Etymonline compares the dialect form franzy of frenzy.^[4] Ayto notes that the French word split into two in English: the full three-syllable form, remodelled on Latin, became phrenetic or frenetic, while the shortened frentik became frantic.^[11] The Anglo-Norman frenetic is recorded from the mid-12th century for mad, frenzied or delirious, and as a noun for a madman.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Insane, out of one's wits: about 1378, frantyk, with frentik before 1376, both in versions of Piers Plowman;^[2][3] the OED dates the adjective c. 1390 (composed before 1376) and the noun, a frenzied person, c. 1380.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was medical: mad or delirious, including the delirium of fever.^[5][3] From the 15th or 16th century the word was transferred to anyone wild with excitement, rage, pain or grief: Barnhart dates this to 1464,^[2] Etymonline to the late 15th century,^[4] and the OED to 1561, when it could also be a term of reproach for extreme folly.^[5] The medical sense is now rare,^[5] and Collins and Merriam-Webster label it archaic.^[9][14] From 1908 British colloquial English used it as a mere intensifier, like terrific or awful ("a frantic nuisance").^[5][15] The adverb franticly (1540s) is older than frantically (1749).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1378 – insane, delirious.^[2][5]
• c. 1380 – noun, a frenzied or delirious person (obsolete by 1763).^[5]
• 1464 – wild with worry or grief.^[2]
• 1540s – franticly.^[4]
• 1561 – affected by wild, uncontrollable excitement or emotion.^[5][16]
• 1565 – marked by frenzy, wild.^[5]
• 1749 – frantically.^[4]
• 1908 – colloquial intensifier, terrific, awful.^[5][15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Wild with fear, worry, pain or other strong feeling; beside oneself: She was frantic when the children did not come home.^[9][14][5]
2. Done in a hurried, desperate or disorganized way: a frantic search for the passports.^[9][14]
3. (archaic) Mentally deranged; insane or delirious.^[9][14][5]

Word family

• frantically
• franticness

Related words

• frenetic
• frenzy
• phrenitis
• phrenology
• schizophrenia
• phrenetic

Usage notes

In early use it was also a noun, a madman or delirious person, recorded from about 1380 to 1763;^[5][3] Merriam-Webster lists the noun as archaic.^[14] Dictionary.com distinguishes frantic, frenetic and fanatic in a synonym study.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)