freo

All forms (9)

• frēo
• frēone
• frēos
• frēore
• frēom
• frēoum
• frēora
• frēon
• frēona

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *friu, a byform of *frī. The transmission of this word was complex. The Proto-Germanic form must have been *frijwaz. After loss of final *-az and syllabification of *-w, the resulting West-Germanic form was *friju, which developed further to *frīju after gemination and vocalization of *j between *i and another *j. The sequence *iju, *īju then contracts to *iu, yielding a final form *friu (cf. Proto-West Germanic *friund, from *frijōndz), which develops normally to Old English frīo, frēo. The oblique forms should however have retained *-j- in all instances in which it w…

Uncertain; possible etymologies include: * From Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, 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 tha…

Descendants

free

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/freo · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution