Online Etymology Dictionary

frigate (n.): 1580s, from Middle French frégate (1520s), from Italian fregata (Neapolitan fregate), like many ship names, of unknown origin. Originally a small, swift vessel; the word was applied to progressively larger types over the years, but since 1943 it is used mainly of escort ships.
Frigg: Old English, but only in compounds such as frigedæg "Friday," Frigeæfen (what we would call "Thursday evening"). In Germanic religion, wife of Odin, goddess of heaven and married love. The English word is from Old Norse, a noun use of the fem. adjective meaning "beloved, loving," also "wife," from Proto-Germanic *frijaz "noble, dear, beloved" (from the same root as Old English freogan "to love;" ultimately from the root of free (adj.)). Also cf. Frau.
frigging (adj.): by 1936 as an expletive, from present participle of frig.
fright (n.): Old English (Northumbrian) fryhto, metathesis of fyrhtu "fear, dread, trembling, horrible sight," from Proto-Germanic *furkhtaz "afraid" (cf. Old Saxon forhta, Old Frisian fruchte, Old High German forhta, German Furcht, Gothic faurhtei "fear"). Not etymologically related to the word fear, which superseded it 13c. as the principal word except in cases of sudden terror. For spelling evolution, see fight.
frighten (v.): 1660s, from fright + -en (1). Related: Frightened; frightening. The earlier verb was simply fright (Old English fyrhtan) "to frighten."
frightful (adj.): mid-13c., "timid;" c.1600 "alarming;" from fright + -ful. In common with most -ful adjectives, it once had both an active and passive sense. Meaning "dreadful, horrible, shocking" (often hyperbolic) is attested from c.1700; Johnson noted it as "a cant word among women for anything unpleasing." Related: Frightfully.
frigid (adj.): 1620s, from Latin frigidus "cold, chill, cool," figuratively "indifferent," from stem of frigere "be cold;" related to frigus "cold, coldness, frost," from PIE root *srig- "cold."

The meaning "wanting in sexual heat" is attested from 1650s. Frigidaire as the proprietary name of a brand of self-contained automatically operated iceless refrigerator dates from 1919 (Frigidaire Corporation, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.).
frigidity (n.): early 15c., from Middle French frigidité (15c.), from Late Latin frigiditatem (nominative frigiditas) "the cold," from Latin frigidus "cold" (see frigid).
frigorific (adj.): "causing cold," 1660s, from French frigorifique, from Late Latin frigorificus "cooling," from Latin frigus (genitive frigoris) "cold, cool, coolness" (see frigid) + -ficus "making," root of facere "make, do" (see factitious).
frijoles (n.): 1570s, from Spanish frijoles (plural) "beans," from Latin phaseolus, phaselus "kidney bean," from Greek phaselos "a kind of bean."
frill (n.): "wavy ornamental edging," 1801 (with a doubtful attestation from 1590s), of uncertain origin despite much speculation [see OED]; figurative sense of "useless ornament" first recorded 1893. The verb meaning "to furnish with a frill" is recorded in 1570s. Related: Frilled.
frills (n.): "mere embellishments," 1893, often in negative constructions; earlier "affectation of dress or manner" (1845); see frill.
frilly (adj.): 1843, from frill + -y (2). Related: Frilliness.
fringe (n.): early 14c., from Old French frenge "thread, strand, fringe, hem" (early 14c.), from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, metathesis of Latin fimbriae (plural) "fibers, threads, fringe," of uncertain origin. Figurative sense of "outer edge, margin," is first recorded 1894. Related: Fringes. Fringe benefits is recorded from 1952.
fringe (v.): late 15c., from fringe (n.). Related: Fringed; fringing.
frippery (n.): 1560s, "old clothes, cast-off garments," from Middle French friperie "old clothes, an old clothes shop," from Old French freperie, feuperie "old rags, rubbish" (13c.), from frepe, feupe "fringe; rags, old clothes," from Late Latin faluppa "chip, splinter, straw, fiber." The notion is of "things worn down, clothes rubbed to rags." The ironic meaning "finery" (but with overtones of tawdriness) dates from 1630s.
Frisbee: 1957, trademark registered 1959 by Wham-O Co., the prototype modeled on pie tins from Mrs. Frisbie's Pies, made by the Frisbie Bakery of Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. Middlebury College students began tossing them around in the 1930s (though Yale and Princeton also claim to have discovered their aerodynamic qualities).
Thirteen years ago the Wham-O Manufacturing Company of San Gabriel, Calif., ... brought out the first Frisbee. Wham-O purchased the rights from a Los Angeles building inspector named Fred Morrison, who in turn had been inspired by the airworthy pie tins of the Frisbie Bakery in Bridgeport, Conn. (which went out of business in March of 1958). He changed the spelling to avoid legal problems. ["Sports Illustrated," Aug. 3, 1970]
The family name is attested in English records from 1226, from a place name in Leicestershire (Frisby on the Wreak), attested from 1086, from Old Danish, meaning "farmstead or village of the Frisians."
Frisco: colloquial shortening of San Francisco, California, U.S., attested by 1856.
Frisian (adj.): "of or pertaining to the people of Frisia," or "belonging to the tribe of the Frisii," 1590s, from Latin Frisii, from a Germanic tribal name (cf. Old Frisian Frise, Middle Dutch Vriese, Old High German Friaso, Old English Frisa), perhaps originally meaning "curly-headed" (cf. Old Frisian frisle "curly hair").
frisk (v.): 1510s, "to dance, frolic," from Middle English frisk "lively" (mid-15c.), from Middle French frisque "lively, brisk," from Old French frisque "fresh, new; merry, animated" (13c.), possibly from a Germanic source (cf. Middle Dutch vrisch "fresh," Old High German frisc "lively;" see fresh (adj.1)). Sense of "pat down in a search" first recorded 1781. Related: Frisked; frisking. As a noun from 1520s.
frisky (adj.): c.1500, from frisk "lively" + -y (2). Related: Friskiness.
frisson (n.): 1777, from French frisson, literally "shiver, thrill" (12c.), from Latin frigere "to be cold" (see frigid).
frist (n.): "a space of time," Old English frist, first "space of time" (cf. Old Frisian first, Old High German frist, Old Norse frest). As a verb, meaning "delay," from early 13c.
frit (n.): "material for glass-making," 1660s, from Italian fritta, fem. past participle of friggere "to fry," from Latin frigere "to roast, poach, fry" (see fry (v.)).
fritillary (n.): type of butterfly, 1857, earlier a type of plant (Fritillaria Meleagris, 1633), from Latin fritillus "dice-box," from fritinnire "to twitter," imitative of the rattle of dice. The butterfly so called perhaps from resemblance of its markings to those of dice; or the names may have been given in confusion, perhaps on the notion that fritillus meant "chessboard."
frittata (n.): 1884, from Italian frittata, from fritto "fried" (see frit).
fritter (v.): "whittle away," 1728, from fritters "fragment or shred," possibly from a noun sense, but this is not recorded as early as the verb; perhaps an alteration of 16c. fitters "fragments or pieces," perhaps ultimately from Old French fraiture "a breaking," from Latin fractura. Or perhaps from a Germanic source (cf. Middle High German vetze "clothes, rags").
fritter (n.): "fried batter," late 14c., from Old French friture "fritter, pancake, something fried" (12c.), from Late Latin frictura "a frying," from frigere "to roast, fry" (see fry (v.)).
Fritz: German familiar form of masc. proper name Friedrich; as a characteristic name for a German, from 1883, especially in World War I. On the fritz "inoperative" (1903) is American English slang, of unknown origin. Earliest references suggest a theatrical origin.
frivolity (n.): 1796, from French frivolité, from Old French frivole "frivolous," from Latin frivolus (see frivolous).
frivolous (adj.): mid-15c., from Latin frivolus "silly, empty, trifling, worthless, brittle," diminutive of *frivos "broken, crumbled," from friare "break, rub away, crumble." Related: Frivolously; frivolousness.
frizz (v.): also friz, 1610s (implied in frizzed), probably from French friser "to curl, dress the hair" (16c.), perhaps from stem of frire "to fry, cook." Assimilated to native frizzle. Related: Frizzed; frizzing. As a noun from 1660s, "frizzed hair."
frizzle (v.): "curl hair," 1560s, perhaps related to Old English fris "curly" and Old Frisian frisle. Or else from Middle French friser "to curl" (see frizz (v.)). Related: Frizzled; frizzling. As a noun from 1610s, "crisp curl," from the verb.
frizzy (adj.): 1870, from frizz + -y (2). Related: Frizziness.
fro: "away, backwards," c.1200, North English and Scottish dialectal fra, Midlands dialect fro, from Old Norse fra "from" (see from).
frock (n.): mid-14c., from Old French froc "a monk's habit" (12c.), of unknown origin; perhaps from Frankish *hrok or some other Germanic source (cf. Old High German hroc "mantle, coat;" Old Norse rokkr, Old English rocc, Old Frisian rokk, German Rock "coat"), from PIE root *rug- "to spin."

Another theory traces it to Medieval Latin floccus, from Latin floccus "flock of wool." Meaning "outer garment for women or children" is from 1530s. Frock-coat attested by 1823.
frog (n.1): Old English frogga, a diminutive of frox, forsc, frosc "frog," from Proto-Germanic *fruska-z (cf. Old Norse froskr, Middle Dutch vorsc, German Frosch "frog"), probably literally "hopper," from PIE root *preu- "to hop" (cf. Sanskrit provate "hops," Russian prygat "to hop, jump").

The Latin word (rana) is imitative of croaking. Collateral Middle English forms frude, froud are from Old Norse frauðr "frog," and frosk "frog" survived in English dialects into the 19c.
I always eat fricasseed frogs regretfully; they remind one so much of miniature human thighs, and make one feel cannibalistic and horrid .... [H. Ellen Brown, "A Girl's Wanderings in Hungary," 1896]
As a derogatory term for "Frenchman," 1778 (short for frog-eater), but before that (1650s) it meant "Dutch" (from frog-land "marshy land"). To have a frog in the throat "be hoarse" is from 1892, from the "croaking" sound.
frog (n.2): fastening for clothing, 1719, originally a belt loop for carrying a weapon, of unknown origin; perhaps from Portuguese froco, from Latin floccus "flock of wool."
frog march: also frog-march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog (n.1) perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down. By the 1930s, the verb was used in reference to the much more efficient (but less frog-like) method of getting someone in an arm-behind-the-back hold and hustling him or her along like that.
froggy (adj.): 1610s, "full of frogs," from frog (n.1) + -y (2). Meaning "frog-like" is from 1837. As a disparaging term for a Frenchman, from 1872. Related: Frogginess.
frogman (n.): "scuba diver in rubber suit," 1945, from frog (n.1) + man (n.).
frolic: 1530s, as an adjective, "joyous, merry," from Middle Dutch vrolyc (adj.) "happy," from vro- "merry, glad," + lyc "like." Cognate with German fröhlich "happy." The stem is cognate with Old Norse frar "swift," Middle English frow "hasty," from PIE *preu- (see frog (n.1)), giving the whole an etymological sense akin to "jumping for joy." The verb is first attested 1580s. Related: Frolicked; frolicking. As a noun, from 1610s.
frolicsome (adj.): 1690s, from frolic + -some.
from (prep.): Old English fram "from, since, by, as a result," originally "forward movement, advancement," evolving into sense of "movement away," from Proto-Germanic *fr- (cf. Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic fram "from, away," Old Norse fra "from," fram "forward"), corresponding to PIE *pro (see pro-).
fromage (n.): French for "cheese," from French fromage, formage (13c.), from Medieval Latin formaticum (cf. Italian formaggio), a derivation from Latin forma "shape, form, mold" (cf Medieval Latin casei forma; see form (v.)).
fromward: Old English framweard "about to depart; doomed to die; with back turned;" see froward.
frond (n.): 1785, from Latin frons (genitive frondis) "leafy branch, green bough, foliage." Adopted by Linnæus in a sense distinct from folium.
Fronde (n.): 1798, from French fronde (14c.), "sling," from Old French fonde, from Latin funda "casting net," of unknown origin.

Name given to the party which rose against Mazarin and the court during the minority of Louis XIV, supposedly from the use of stone-casting slings to attack property of their opponents. Hence, sometimes used figuratively for "violent political opposition."
front (n.): late 13c., "forehead," from Old French front "forehead, brow" (12c.), from Latin frontem (nominative frons) "forehead, brow, front; facade, forepart; appearance," perhaps literally "that which projects," from PIE *bhront-, from root *bhren- "to project, stand out." Or from PIE *ser-, "base of prepositions and preverbs with the basic meaning 'above, over, up, upper'" [Watkins].

Sense of "foremost part of anything" developed in Latin. The military sense of "foremost part of an army" (mid-14c.) led to the meaning "field of operations in contact with the enemy" (1660s). Home front is from 1919. Sense of "public facade" is from 1891; that of "something serving as a cover for illegal activities" is from 1905. Meteorological sense first recorded 1921. Front yard first attested 1767.
front (v.): 1520s, from Middle French fronter, from Old French front (see front (n.)). Related: Fronted; fronting.