Fred

See also: fred and frêd

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: frĕd, IPA^(key): /fɹɛd/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛd

Proper noun

Fred

1. A short version of Frederick, Alfred, or Wilfred, also used as a formal male given name.
   • 1892, Robert Grant, The Reflections of a Married Man, Scribner, pages 98–99:

     When I referred to the confusion which would result from the presence in the house of two people with the same name, she tossed her head and said it would be easy to obviate that by calling me Frederick instead of Fred. […] Imagine Harry Bolles and other kindred spirits calling me stiff, august Frederick! I vowed that this should not be brought to pass […]

   • 2002, Fred Hill, You May as Well Laugh: The Columns of Fred Hill, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 59:

     I had great parents, but they made one major mistake. They named me Fred. I'm sorry in case other Freds read this, but Fred is a rather weak name. It just sort of fades away on the tongue. It's not positive like Matt or Jim or Mike or Luke.

2. (military, slang) The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, a military transport aircraft widely used by USAF aircrews.

Derived terms

• Freddish

Noun

Fred (plural Freds)

1. (cycling, slang, derogatory) A novice cyclist.
   • 2001, Andrew Albright, “World Championships (was Re: What is John Eustice cycling backround? ^[sic]”, in rec.bicycles.racing (Usenet):

     Here we have several World Championships every week. There is 'Hill Worlds', and then some other ones. What happens a lot of time^[sic] is that only a few people who race show up, and you can have your way with the majority of Freds who do the ride (Hill Worlds is fun because people can't wheelsuck).

   • 2014, Tim Lewis, Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda's Cycling Team:

     They called them 'Freds', a pejorative term that implied they were middle-aged and dowdy, and sniped that their only talent was staying awake for long periods. After it had been running for a couple of years, one of Jock's friends challenged him to put the Freds in their place. Jock, his competitive spirit pricked, agreed.

Anagrams

• derf, ferd

Norwegian

Proper noun

Fred

1. a male given name from the vocabulary word fred "peace", or borrowed from English

Swedish

Proper noun

Fred c (genitive Freds)

1. a male given name from the vocabulary word fred "peace", or borrowed from English

Anagrams

• dref