fresh

Pronunciation

• IPA: /freʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fresh, fersh,^[2][3] inherited from Old English fersc (“not salt, unsalted, of water”),^[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *friskaz,^[4][5] the source also of Old Frisian fersk, Dutch vers, Old High German frisc (German frisch) and Old Norse ferskr.^[4][5] It is probably cognate with Old Church Slavonic prěsĭnŭ “fresh” and Lithuanian prėskas “sweet, unleavened”.^[4][2] The modern form, with fre-, and the wider Middle English senses came under the influence of freis (“fresh”), feminine fresche,^[4][2][6] which comes from the same Germanic word, as do Italian and Spanish fresco.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of water, not salt: about 893, in Alfred's translation of Orosius.^[2] Of food, new and not preserved by salting, is from about 905 in the OED.^[7] In Middle English, from before 1200, it also meant “pure, sweet, eager”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

When meat was salted to last through the winter, fresh meant “not salt”;^[8] “new, recent” is from about 1300,^[4] “not stale or worn” from the early 14th century,^[4] and of memories from the mid-14th century.^[4] “Raw, inexperienced” is from 1595.^[7] Of the wind, “fairly strong”, is from the 16th century.^[5] The US slang sense “impudent, forward”, from 1848, is probably from German frech “insolent”;^[4] Word Origins says only that it may have been influenced by it.^[8] Freshman, “a novice”, is from about 1550,^[2] freshet from 1596,^[2] and freshen from 1697, in Dampier.^[2] Fresh fields and pastures new is a misquotation of Milton's Lycidas.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 893 – of water, not salt.^[2]
• before 1200 – pure, eager.^[2]
• c. 1300 – new, recent.^[4]
• early 14th century – not stale.^[4]
• c. 1550 – freshman.^[2]
• 1595 – inexperienced.^[7]
• 1697 – freshen.^[2]
• 1848 – impudent (US slang).^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Newly made, picked or obtained; not stale or spoiled.
2. Not preserved by canning, smoking or freezing.
3. Of water, not salty.
4. New or different: a fresh start.
5. Clean, cool and refreshing: fresh air.
6. Not tired; full of energy.
7. (informal) Too bold; impudent.

Adverb

1. Recently; newly: fresh out of school.

Word family

• freshly
• freshness
• afresh
• freshwater
• freshen
• fresher
• freshman
• refresh

Related words

• fresco
• freshet
• alfresco

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 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press