Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The ash; the ash-tree.
  • noun They founde Firumbas thar a lay vndre a tre of frayne.
  • To ask.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb rare or dialectal to ask, inquire; demand.
  • verb rare or dialectal to question; to ask questions.
  • noun obsolete, botany the ash, ash-tree.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English frainen, freinen ("to ask"), from Old English freġnan, friġnan ("to ask, inquire, learn"), from Proto-Germanic *fregnanan (“to ask”), from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to ask, woo”). Cognate with Icelandic fregna ("to ask, inquire"), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fraihnan, "to ask"). Related also to Dutch vragen ("to ask"), German fragen ("to ask"), Norwegian frega ("to ask"), Latin precor ("ask, beseech"), Albanian preh ("rest, burial, tomb"), Lithuanian prašyti ("to request"), Polish prosić ("to request").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English frayne ("ash-tree"), from Old French fraisne, fresne ("ash-tree"), from Latin fraxinus ("ash-tree").

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