Etymologically
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fresh

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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
  • 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