fry English · revision 15236

+ Fry, to cook in fat, is from French and Latin; fry, young fish, is a separate word.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɹaɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|cook in fat}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 13th century|origins=la frīgō}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Fry, to cook in hot fat, is [[inh|enm|frien]], [[bor|fro|frire|t=to fry]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|frīgō|t=to roast or fry]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) cognate with [[grc|φρύγω|tr=phrúgō|t=to roast]] and [[sa|भृज्जति|tr=bhṛjjáti|t=he roasts]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline traces it to [[ine-pro|*bʰer-|t=to cook, bake]];^(Etymonline) Barnhart sees several related variant roots that cannot be one.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To cook something in a shallow pan over a fire: the late 13th century in Etymonline, about 1300 in Barnhart;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the 13th century in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The intransitive sense, to be cooked in fat, is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The noun, excessive heat, is from 1634, and fried food from 1639.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Out of the frying pan into the fire'' was used by Sir Thomas More in the mid-16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The slang sense, to be executed in the electric chair, is chiefly American,^(Collins 2023)^(AHD) and to destroy electronic circuits with excessive heat or current is recent.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 13th century – to fry.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – to be fried.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1639 – a fry, fried food.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cook or be cooked in hot [[oil]] or [[fat]] over direct heat.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang, chiefly US)'' To be executed in the [[electric chair]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To destroy electronic circuits with too much heat or current.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A dish of fried food; a [[French fry]], usually in the plural.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A social gathering where fried food is eaten: ''a fish fry''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fryer]]

+ * [[fried]]

+ * [[fritter]]

+ * [[frying pan]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|young fish}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1293}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Fry, young fish, is probably [[inh|enm|fry]], [[bor|xno|frei]], from [[m|fro|frai|t=spawn]], from [[m|fro|froier|t=to rub, spawn]], from fish rubbing their bellies on the sand (see [[fray]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-vul|*frictiō]].^(Etymonline) Some trace the word, or its use for human offspring, to [[non|frjó|t=seed, offspring]];^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Young fish: 1293 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline (the late 13th century in Anglo-Latin).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The OED's first quotation, for offspring or progeny, is from about 1375.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Children or offspring is first found in Scottish before 1400.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) By 1577 it was applied to the young of other creatures produced in great numbers, such as bees,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and young or insignificant people as a group, as in ''small fry'', from before 1577.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1293 – fry, young fish.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1400 – children (Scots).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1577 – insignificant people.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Very young fish, especially newly hatched.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[small fry|alt=Small fry]]: young or unimportant people or things.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fray]]

+ * [[friction]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}