fraught English · revision 1352

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɹɔːt/ ''(UK)''; /fɹɔt/, /fɹɑt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the past participle of Middle English ''fraughten'' “to load a ship with cargo”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from the noun ''fraught'' “cargo, lading”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) an older form of [[freight]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The noun is from [[dum|vracht|t=freight money, hire of a ship]] or Middle Low German ''vracht'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) perhaps originally “earnings”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a ship, laden or loaded (14th century; before 1375 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative use ''fraught with'', “full of, attended by”, appeared in 1576^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) and is now the main sense.^(Etymonline) The verb ''fraught'' was always rarer than the participle.^(Etymonline) The sense “distressed, distressing”, used without ''with'', is recorded from 1966.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1228 – noun ''fraght'', cargo.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1375 – laden, of a ship.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1400 – verb, to load a ship.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570–76 – supplied or filled with something.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1576 – ''fraught with'', destined to produce.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1966 – distressed or distressing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Followed by ''with'': full of or accompanied by something, usually something unwelcome, as in ''fraught with danger''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Marked by distress or tension; upsetting.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Laden or well supplied.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly Scottish)'' A load or [[cargo]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[freight]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}