frá

Forms

frá (preposition with dative; adverb)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fram (“from”),^[2][3] with cognates in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌼 (fram, “forward; from”), Old English fram (“from”), Old Saxon fram and Old High German fram.^[2][3] It is the unstressed form of fram, which kept the full form as an adverb while the reduced form became the preposition.^[4][5] Beside it stand Old Swedish fran and Old Danish fran.^[6][5] Wiktionary traces it further to Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“forth, forward”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is runic: on the amulet from Södra Kvinneby, dated 950–1100 by Imer, fly fran iluit “flee from the evil being!”.^[7] An undated Viking Age cross from Andreas on the Isle of Man names its maker as sunr biarnar fra kuli “son of Bjǫrn from Kollr”.^[8] In the manuscripts ONP's first dated record is from 1175, in the Elucidarius: hann stóþ fvr goþe oc leit fra honom “he stood before God and looked away from him”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

As a preposition with the dative it expresses separation in place (“from, away from”), distance, time (“from, since”), origin and descent (berask frá “to be born of”), deviation, and the topic of speech (“about, concerning”).^[9][1] It is often combined with í or á as ífrá, áfrá.^[10] As an adverb it means “away”, as in til ok frá “to and fro”, and of time héðan í frá “henceforth”.^[1] It is also the first part of many compounds, such as frábærr, from bera frá.^[4]

It continues as Icelandic frá, Norwegian Nynorsk frå, Swedish från and Danish fra.^[6][4] English fro, in to and fro, is from Norse and is recorded from about 1200.^[11][12][6] It and the native from are doublets.^[11]

Timeline

• 950–1100 – runic fran on the Södra Kvinneby amulet, by Imer's dating.^[7]
• 1150–1250 – frá in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 A.^[13]
• 1175 – leit fra honom “looked away from him” in the Elucidarius.^[9]
• 1200 – þaþan fra “from then on” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[9]
• c. 1200 – English fra, fro “away, backwards”.^[11]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with dative) from, away from.^[9][1]
2. at a distance from;^[9][1] skamt frá ánni “a short way from the river”.^[9][1]
3. (of time) from, since;^[9][1] dag frá degi “day after day”.^[9][1]
4. (of descent or origin) from, of;^[9] berask frá “to be born of”.^[9]
5. against, contrary to;^[9][1] frá líkindum “against likelihood”.^[9][1]
6. about, concerning.^[9][1]

Adverb

1. away;^[9][1] hverfa frá “to turn away”, til ok frá “to and fro”.^[9][1]
2. héðan í frá “henceforth”.^[1]
3. þar út í frá “secondly, next”.^[1]

Word family

• frábærr

Descendants

• Icelandic frá^[2]
• Faroese frá^[2]
• Norwegian Nynorsk frå^[2]
• Swedish från^[2]
• Danish fra^[2]
• Middle English fro^[12]
• English fro^[11]

Related words

• fram
• framr

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. frá
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 111
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. frá
5. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. frá
6. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 139
7. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Öl SAS1989;43
8. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. IM MM99
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. frá
10. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 171
11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b Dance, Richard; Pons-Sanz, Sara; Schorn, Brittany, eds., The Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, gersum.org
13. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 A