Frank

See also: frank

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: frăngk, IPA^(key): /fɹæŋk/
• Rhymes: -æŋk
• Homophones: frank, franc

Etymology 1

From Middle English Frank, partially from Old English Franca (“a Frank”); and partially from Old French Franc, and/or Latin Francus (“a Frank”), from Frankish *Franko (“a Frank”); both from Proto-Germanic *frankô (“javelin”). Cognate with Old High German Franko (“a Frank”), Old English franca (“spear, javelin”). Compare Saxon, ultimately a derivative of Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“knife, dagger”).

Noun

Frank (plural Franks)

1. One of the Franks, a Germanic federation that inhabited parts of what are now France, the Low Countries and Germany.

Derived terms

• Frankish
• Frankland

Related terms

• franc
• France
• French
• Frenchify
• franchise
• Francia
• francisation, francization
• francise, francize (in Quebec; Oxford dictionary: [1])

Translations

one of the Franks

• Arabic: إِفْرَنْجِيّ‎ m (ʾifranjiyy)
• Armenian: ֆրանկ (hy) (frank)
• Bengali: ফ্রাংক (phrangk)
• Catalan: franc (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法兰克人, 法蘭克人

• Danish: franker c
• Finnish: frankki (fi)
• French: Franc (fr) m, Franque (fr) f
• Galician: franco (gl) m
• German: Franke (de) m
• Greek: Φράγκος (el) m (Frágkos)

  Ancient: Φράγγος m (Phrángos)

• Icelandic: franki (is) m
• Irish: Franc m
• Japanese: フランク人 (フランクじん, furanku-jin)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: franker m

  Nynorsk: frankar m

• Portuguese: franco (pt) m
• Russian: франк (ru) (frank)
• Spanish: franco (es) m
• Swedish: frank (sv) c
• Turkish: Frenk (tr)

Etymology 2

The surname derives from the medieval tribal name. The given name is also a form of Francis, with formal given name status since the 19th century.

Proper noun

Frank

1. A male given name.
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:

     Mrs. Ford. How now, sweet Frank! why art thou melancholy?

2. A diminutive of the male given name Francis
   • 1996 Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes, HarperCollins, →ISBN, Chapter VII, page 197:

     Your name is Francis, is it?

     Frank, sir.

     Your name is Francis. There was never a St. Frank. That's a name for gangsters and politicians.

3. A surname​.

Translations

male given name

• Danish: Frank
• Dutch: Frank (nl)
• French: Franck (fr) m, Frank (fr) m, François (fr) m
• Galician: Franco m
• German: Frank (de)
• Hawaiian: Palani
• Hebrew: פְרַנְק‎ (he) (franq)

• Icelandic: Frank (is) m
• Italian: Franco (it)
• Japanese: フランク (furanku)
• Norwegian: Frank (no)
• Portuguese: Franco, Frank m
• Spanish: Franco (es)
• Swedish: Frank (sv)

surname

• Galician: Franco m

• Yiddish: פֿראַנק‎ (frank)

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Danish

Proper noun

Frank

1. A male given name borrowed from English and German.

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /frɑŋk/
• Hyphenation: Frank
• Rhymes: -ɑŋk

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch vranke, from Old Dutch franko.

Noun

Frank m (plural Franken)

1. (chiefly plural) Frank (member of a Migration-Period Germanic tribe)

Derived terms

• Frankisch
• Frankrijk

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Frank m

1. A Dutch given name, Frank.

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Faroese

Proper noun

Frank m

1. A male given name.

Usage notes

• son of Frank: Franksson
• daughter of Frank: Franksdóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Frank
Accusative	Frank
Dative	Franki
Genitive	Franks

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁɑ̃k/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Frank m

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Frank.

Usage notes

• More often spelled Franck

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German

Etymology

From Old High German Franko (“a Frank”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋk

Proper noun

Frank

1. A surname​.
2. A male given name used in the Middle Ages and revived in the nineteenth century. Popular in the 1960s and the 1970s.

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Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fraŋ̊k/
• Rhymes: -aŋ̊k

Proper noun

Frank m

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Frank.

Declension

declension of Frank

m-s1	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Frank
accusative	Frank
dative	Frank
genitive	Franks

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Manx

Etymology 1

From Latin Francia, from Francus (“Frank”).

Proper noun

yn Rank f (genitive ny Frank)

1. France
   • Haink eh noal ass yn Rank.

     He came over from France.

   • Hooar eh baase 'sy Rank.

     He got killed in France.

   • Ren ad troailt 'sy Rank as ayns yn Spaainey ny yei shen.

     They travelled in France and then in Spain.

   • T'eh ceau yn geurey ayns jiass ny Frank.

     He winters in the south of France.

Usage notes

• Always preceded by the definite article.

Related terms

• Frangagh
• Frangish

Etymology 2

From Latin Francus (“Frank”).

Proper noun

Frank m

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Francis.

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
Frank	Rank	Vrank
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

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Norwegian

Etymology

From English or, rarely, English Frank, in the 19th century.

Proper noun

Frank

1. A male given name.

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [2] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 10 272 males with the given name Frank living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on April 29th, 2011.

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English Frank.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾɐ̃k/, /ˈfɾɐ̃.ki/

Proper noun

Frank m

1. A male given name, equivalent to English Frank

Related terms

• Franco

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Swedish

Proper noun

Frank c (genitive Franks)

1. A male given name borrowed from English or, rarely, from German.