v.
'hold back'
(Modern English frist)The absence of metathesis in the ME v. fryst is potentially, but not definitely, an indication of ON input and most commentators maintain both the possibility of loan or native derivation, whichever they favour (e.g. McGee 392, GollCl, Menner). The weak v. < the PGmc n. *frest- (of various genders, cp. OE fyrst 'space of time', OIcel frest 'delay', OFris frist, OS frist, first 'respite') is not attested in OE, but does occur elsewhere in WGmc (cp. OFr fersta, OHG fristen, fristōn) as well as ON (cp. OIcel fresta 'defer, put up with; delay, tarry'). On forms of the n., see further Dance 2003: 403n.
PGmc Ancestor
*frest-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
fresta 'defer, put up with; delay, tarry'
(ONP fresta (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Icel fresta
OE Cognate
cp. fyrst (n.) 'space of time'
Phonological and morphological markers
[
absence of metathesis
] (possibly diagnostic)Summary category
CC2ac
(CC1)
This is the earliest attestation of a <fr-> spelling of the v. in OED and MED. It is less frequent than the native variant and appears more commonly in N texts; it occurs in N and Sc dial of MnE.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Cl 743