fret

Meaning

1. Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
2. Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
3. Herpes; tetter (“any of various pustular skin conditions”).
4. The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus indicate to miners the locality of veins of ore.

worry

worry about

chafe at

Greek fret

key pattern

worn spot

be worried

get impatient

get nervous

become irritated

lose one’s head

nervous

take pains

be peevish

chip away at

exert oneself

feel sorrow

get annoyed

grate on

jar on

make an effort

try hard

be fretful

get anxious

be fretty

be worn away

fretted lead

vexedness

lead came

carved patterns

be anxious

disgruntle

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fɹɛt/

table From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (“for-, prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward, toward”)) + *etaną (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)). The senses meaning “to chafe, rub” could also be due to sound-association with Anglo-Norman *freiter (modern dialectal French fretter), from Vulgar Latin *frictāre, frequentative of Latin fricāre, from fricō (“to chafe, rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”); compare Old French froter (modern French frotter). The chief difficulty is the lack of evidence of the Old French word. cognates *Dutch vreten, fretten (“to devour, hog, wolf”) *Low German freten (“to eat up”) *German fressen (“to devour, gobble up, guzzle”) *Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan, “to devour”) *Swedish fräta (“to eat away, corrode, fret”) *Danish fråse (“to gorge”)