Frow
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A woman; a wife, especially a Dutch or German one.
"Mrs. Frances, a Frow, Daughter to Vanlock"
- 2 Alternative spelling of froe (“cleaving tool”). alt-of, alternative
- 3 A slovenly woman; a wench; a lusty woman. obsolete
- 4 A big, fat woman; a slovenly, coarse, or untidy woman; a woman of low character. obsolete
- 1 Brittle; tender; crisp dialectal
"that which grows in gravel is subject to be frow, as they term it , and brittle"
Example
More examples"Mrs. Frances, a Frow, Daughter to Vanlock"
Etymology
From Middle Dutch vrouwe (“lady”), from Old Dutch *frōwa, from Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ (“lady, mistress”), from Proto-Indo-European *prōw- (“right; judge, master”). Cognate with Dutch vrouw (“woman, wife, lady, mistress”), Low German frouw, frauw (“woman, wife, lady”), German Frau (“woman, wife, lady”), Swedish fru, Icelandic freyja (“lady, mistress”, in compounds), Old English frōwe (“woman”), Old English frēa (“lord, master, husband”). Doublet of frau, vrou, and vrouw.
From Middle English frow, frough, frogh, frouh, frouȝ (“brittle; tender; fickle; slack; loose”), cognate with Scots frooch, freuch (“dry and brittle”). Of obscure origin. Perhaps also related to Middle Dutch vro, vroo, Middle Low German vrô, German froh.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.