fremd

English

Alternative forms

• frem, frim, fren, fraim, fremed, framed
• frammit, fremmit, frempt (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English fremde (“strange, foreign”), fremede, from Old English fremde, fremede, fremeþe (“foreign, strange”), from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz (“foreign, not one's own”), from Proto-Indo-European *perəm-, *prom- (“forth, forward”), from *por- (“forward, through”). Cognate with Scots fremmit, frempt (“fremd”), West Frisian frjemd (“strange, fremd”), Dutch vreemd (“strange, foreign”), German fremd (“fremd, strange, foreign”), Swedish främmande (“foreign, outlandish, strange”). More at from.

Pronunciation

• enPR: frĕmd, IPA^(key): /fɹɛmd/

Adjective

fremd (comparative fremder or more fremd, superlative fremdest or most fremd)

1. (rare, chiefly dialectal) Strange; foreign; alien; outlandish; far off or away; distant.
   • 1873, Blackwood's Edinburgh magazine:

     [...] and if I'm to be no more hereafter to them that belong to me, than to legions of strange angels, or a whole nation of fremd folk !

2. (rare, chiefly dialectal) Not akin; unrelated.
   • 1875, John Howard Nodal, George Milner, A glossary of the Lancashire dialect:

     Thus, a person living with a family to whom he is not related is termed "a fremd body." If it were asked, "Is he akin to you?" the answer would be, "Nawe, he's fremd," i.e. "he's one of us, but not a relation."

   • 1851, Mrs. Oliphant (Margaret), Passages in the life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland of Sunnyside:

     [...] seeing that they were fremd in heart, if they were kin in blood.

3. (rare, chiefly dialectal) Out of the ordinary; unusual; strange, weird.

   a fremd day

   Something fremd has been going on here.

   A fremd man this.

4. (obsolete) Wild; untamed.

Derived terms

• fremdling
• fremedly
• fremsome

Noun

fremd (plural fremds)

1. (rare or chiefly dialectal) stranger; guest
2. (archaic or obsolete) an enmity

References

• 1906, The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, "fremd".
• 1883, The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language, "fremde, fremed".

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German vremde, vremede, from Old High German fremidi, from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz. Cognate with English fremd, Dutch vreemd.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁɛmt/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

fremd (comparative fremder, superlative am fremdesten)

1. strange
2. foreign
   • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 28/2010, page 93:

     Fast alle Amerikaner können ihre Wurzeln in fremde Länder zurückverfolgen, und deshalb ist Einwanderung ein Thema, das die Identität der USA auf besondere Weise berührt.

     Nearly all Americans can trace back their roots into foreign countries, and therefore immigration is an issue that touches the identity of the US in a special way.

3. external

Derived terms

• befremden
• entfremden
• fremdartig
• Fremder
• Fremdkapital
• Fremdling
• Fremdscham
• fremdschämen
• Fremdsprache
• verfremden

 

Further reading

• “fremd” in Duden online

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Middle English

Adjective

fremd

1. Alternative form of fremde

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Scots

Adjective

fremd

1. Alternative form of fremmit