freo

See also: Freo

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese frẽo (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin frēnum. Cognate with Portuguese freio and Spanish freno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɾe.o̝/

Noun

freo m (plural freos)

1. brake

   Synonyms: entrabe, trabán

2. bridle
   • 1455, X. Ferro Couselo (ed.), A vida e a fala dos devanceiros, Vigo: Galaxia, page 316:

     Iten, que furtara a faqa a Pero Gayo da sua casa, que está á par da vila de Ribadauia, da casa que está á par da ponte, et que lla furtara con a sella e con o freo et que fora despois por ela preso ena Cruña

     Item, that he stole the mare of Pedro Gaio, from his house that is close to the town of Ribadavia, by the bridge; and that he stole her with saddle and bridle, and that later he was captured because of her in A Coruña

   Synonym: brida

3. bit of the bridle

Related terms

• enfrear
• frear
• refrear

References

• “freo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “freo” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “freo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “freo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “freo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

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Irish

Alternative forms

• freob

Pronunciation

• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /fˠɾˠoːbˠ/ (corresponding to the variant freob)

Pronoun

freo (emphatic freosan)

1. third-person plural of fré

References

• Tomás de Bhaldraithe, 1977, Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge: An Deilbhíocht, 2nd edition, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, section 306.

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Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *frijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“like, love”).

Alternative forms

• frīo, freoh, frioh, friġ, frī, frȳ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fre͜oː/

Adjective

frēo

1. free, at liberty; exempt
   • c. 890, Alfred the Great, Laws

     Beo he freo

     he shall be free.

2. (poetic) noble, glad
   • c. 700 Cædmon, Metrical Paraphrase

     Ða wearþ worn afeded freora bearna

     then a number of noble children were brought forth.

Declension

• The stem frēo- contracted with any endings beginning with a vowel, leaving many forms being simply frēo: King Alfred, Pastoral Care (transl. of Gregory the Great): Ac forðæm ðe hi her syngiað, & hit him no ne hreowð, hi gehrinð her sumu wracu ær ðæm ecum witum ðæt hi ne sien freo ne orsorge on ðæm anbide ðæs maran wites.—note that orsorge (orsorh) has the ending -e, as compared to frēo.

Declension of frēo — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	frēo	frēo	frēo
Accusative	frēone	frēo	frēo
Genitive	frēos	frēore	frēos
Dative	frēom, frēoum	frēore	frēom, frēoum
Instrumental	frēo	frēore	frēo
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	frēo	frēo	frēo
Accusative	frēo	frēo	frēo
Genitive	frēora	frēora	frēora
Dative	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum
Instrumental	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum

Declension of frēo — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	frēo	frēo	frēo
Accusative	frēon	frēon	frēo
Genitive	frēon	frēon	frēon
Dative	frēon	frēon	frēon
Instrumental	frēon	frēon	frēon
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	frēon	frēon	frēon
Accusative	frēon	frēon	frēon
Genitive	frēora, frēona	frēora, frēona	frēora, frēona
Dative	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum
Instrumental	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum	frēom, frēoum

Derived terms

• frēolīċ
• frēolīċe

Related terms

• frēond
• frēoġan
• friþ
• frīġ

Descendants

• Middle English: fre, vri, vry
  • English: free
  • Scots: fre

Noun

frēo m

1. a free man, man

Etymology 2

Uncertain; possible etymologies include:

• From Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ, a feminine form of *frawjô (“lord”) (Old English frēa), from Proto-Indo-European *proHwo-, a derivation from *per- (“to go forward”). Cognate with Old Saxon frūa, Old High German frouwa (German Frau), Old Norse freyja. The Indo-European root is also the source of Proto-Slavic *prāvъ (Old Church Slavonic правъ (pravŭ), Russian пра́вый (právyj, “right”)), and the first element of Latin provincia.
• From Proto-Germanic *frijō, of the same root as etymology 1 above and related to the verb that yielded Old English frēoġan (“to liberate; to love”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

frēo f (Northumbria)

1. a woman
   • c. 700, Cædmon, Metrical Paraphrase

     oþ-ðæt he funde frēo fægroste

     until he found the fairest woman

Related terms

• frēa