fraier

Forms

fraier m (plural fraieri, feminine equivalent fraieră)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Freier (“suitor, fiancé”), as most dictionaries say.^[2][3][4][5] Ciorănescu follows Graur here and compares Polish frajerz (“fiancé”), Czech frajer and Croatian frajar.^[5] Wiktionary places פֿרײַער (frayer, “sucker”), itself from the German word, between the two, and compares frajer and Russian фра́ер (frájer).^[1] An older proposal by Vasiliu derives it from Freiherr (“baron, lord”) instead.^[5]

The German noun is a derivative of freien (“to woo”), which entered High German through the Bible translation of Luther.^[6] Ciorănescu explains the sense “dupe” by the idea that a suitor is always the one taken in.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is in the fourth volume of the Iași Buletinul Institutului de filologie română «Alexandru Philippide», a periodical that began in 1934.^[3] Graur discussed the word in Grai și suflet and the Bulletin linguistique.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In slang the word first named the victim of a theft or swindle, and then any fellow at all.^[5] The common modern sense is a person who is slow on the uptake and does not know how to profit from a situation.^[2][3] NODEX also records a person who stands out by showy, extravagant dress.^[7] Romanian derived the verb fraieri “to swindle” and the noun fraiereală “swindle; idleness”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial) A fool, a person who cannot manage or does not know how to take advantage of a situation.^[2][3][1]
2. (slang) A sucker, someone who is robbed or tricked.^[5][1]
3. (slang) A fellow, a guy.^[5]
4. A person who dresses in a showy, extravagant way.^[7]

Adjective

1. Foolish, naive, unable to look after one's own interests.^[2][3]

Word family

• fraieri
• fraiereală

Related words

• German Freier

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 411
3. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 937
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. fraier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. fraier
6. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. fraier