Frau

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See also: frau and frâu

English

Etymology

From German Frau.

Noun

Frau (plural Frauen)

  1. Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (usually married) woman among German-speaking people.
    Synonym: Fr.
    Coordinate term: Herr
    • 1970, George C D Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, New York, N.Y.: AMS Press, page 169:
      G. von Hoffmann’s Die Ochsenmenuette offered Frau von Berckel as Therese, Scherer as Istock, Lotti as Eduard, and Frauen Schmidt and Esden, and Graff, Lehmann and Kress in minor rôles.
    • 2002, Margaret Cook, “The Military Celibate”, in Lords of Creation: The Demented World of Men in Power, London: Robson Books, →ISBN, page 101:
      His gifts as an impassioned speaker had brought him to the notice of some wealthy society ladies (Frauen Bechstein, Hofmann and Wagner), who lionised him and tolerated his cranky behaviour as that of a budding genius.
    • 2007, A[ndrew] N[orman] Wilson, Winnie and Wolf, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 54:
      There was more than a little rivalry between the two ladies, Frauen Wagner and Bechstein, when it came to offering Wolf accommodation, though Winnie could see that while she was so busy with the Festival it made sense for Wolf to stay with the Bechsteins and come round to Wahnfried for visits.
    • 2015, Joel M. Levin, Our Beguine: The Dance of Life, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN:
      We met our landlords-to-be, Frau and Herr Friedrich, themselves émigrés from the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.

Related terms

Further reading

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German vrouwe, vrowe from Old High German frouwa, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ, a feminine form of *frawjô (“lord”) Proto-Indo-European *prōw- (“master, judge”). Cognate with German Frau, Dutch vrouw, West Frisian frou, Icelandic freyja.

Noun

Frau f (Basel)

  1. woman
  2. wife

References

  • Wörterbuch der elsässischen Mundarten
  • Rudolf Suter, Baseldeutsch-Grammatik (1976)

German

eine Frau

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German vrouwe, vrowe, from Old High German frouwa (“mistress”), from Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ, a feminine form of *frawjô (“lord”), giving Old English frēa (“lord, king; God, Christ; husband”), frēo (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *proHwo-, a derivation from *per- (“to go forward”).

Cognate with Old Saxon frūa (hence Middle Low German vrouwe, Modern Low German frug), Old Norse freyja and frú (hence Icelandic frú and Norwegian frue). Further cognates include German Fron (“corvée, soccage”) and its kin. The Indo-European root is also the source of Proto-Slavic *pravъ (“right, straight, correct”), whence Old Church Slavonic правъ (pravŭ), Russian пра́вый (právyj, “right”), perhaps also Ancient Greek πρῶρα (prôra, “bow, prow”) and the first element of Latin provincia, if this is from Proto-Indo-European *prōwiōn.

Pronunciation

Noun

Frau f (genitive Frau, plural Frauen, diminutive Fräulein n or Frauchen n)

  1. woman (adult female human)
    • 1762, Jacob Brucker, Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments, nebst einer vollständigen Erklärung derselben welche aus den auserlesensten Anmerkungen verschiedener Engländischen Schriftsteller zusammengetragen, und in der holländischen Sprache an das Licht gestellet, nunmehr aber in dieser deutschen Uebersetzung aufs neue durchgesehen, und mit vielen Anmerkungen und einem Vorberichte begleitet worden. Der funfzehente Theil, welcher des Neuen Testaments vierter Band ist, und die beyden Briefe Pauli an die Corinther, wie auch den an die Galater und Epheser enthält. (Leipzig), pages 257-259 and 263:
      7. Denn der Mann muß das Haupt nicht bedecken, indem er das Bild und die Herrlichkeit Gottes ist; aber die Frau ist die Herrlichkeit des Mannes. 8. Denn der Mann ist aus der Frauen nicht, sondern die Frau aus dem Manne. 9. Denn auch der Mann ist nicht um der Frauen willen, sondern die Frau um des Mannes willen geschaffen.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
      Ob sich gleich in andern Dingen zwischen dem Manne und der Frauen Unterschied findet, und der Mann einigen Vorrang und einige Würde vorzüglich vor der Frauen hat: so ist doch in Absicht auf beyder geistlichen Zustand kein Unterschied; Männer und Weiber werden gleich gut wiedergeboren, gerechtfertiget und von Schuld befreyet, und werden zusammen verherrlichet werden. [...] Itzt wird der Mann aus der Frauen geboren;
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. wife (married woman, especially in relation to her spouse)
    Maria ist meine Frau.
    Mary is my wife.
  3. a title of courtesy, equivalent to Mrs/Ms, which has nearly replaced Fräulein in the function of Miss
    Sehr geehrte Frau Schmidt
    Dear Miss/Ms./Mrs. Schmidt
  4. madam (polite form of address for a woman or lady)
    Frau Bundeskanzlerin
    Madam Chancellor
  5. lady; noblewoman (woman of breeding or higher class)
    Unsere Liebe Frau
    Our Lady
    Gnädige Frau (polite address to an unknown woman or to a noblewoman)
    Milady
    (literally, “Gracious lady”)
    Frau des Hauses
    Mistress of the house

Declension

Declension of Frau
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Frau die Frauen
genitive einer der Frau der Frauen
dative einer der Frau den Frauen
accusative eine die Frau die Frauen
Obsolete declension
Declension of Frau
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Frau die Frauen
genitive einer der Frauen der Frauen
dative einer der Frauen den Frauen
accusative eine die Frau die Frauen

Synonyms

Antonyms

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Unserdeutsch: Frau
  • → English: frau
  • → Russian: фра́у (fráu)

See also

Further reading

  • “Frau” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “Frau” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • “Frau” in Duden online
  • Frau on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de

Unserdeutsch

Noun

Frau

  1. woman
    de Frau ― the woman (nominative)
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