frank

英 [fræŋk]美 [fræŋk]
  • adj. 坦白的，直率的；老实的
  • n. 免费邮寄特权
  • vt. 免费邮寄
CET4 TEM4 考研 TOEFL CET6 中低频词 核心词汇

中文词源

frank 坦率的，真诚的，优雅的

来自Frank, 法兰克人，部落名。在公元五世纪，整个西欧仍处在一种野蛮的部落时代，整个社会被分成自由人，俘虏，和奴隶三个等级，而Frank人做为战胜级，享受唯一的自由权。后部落名通用化，赋予诸多美好的词义，如自由的，高贵的，美丽的，优雅的，大方的，真诚的等。后主要用于坦率的，其它词义逐渐废弃。参照电影《庞贝末日》。

Frank 法兰克人

可能来自old Germanic*frankon, 标枪，词源可能同fork. 比较Saxon, 词源同sax, 斧头。

英文词源

frank
frank: [13] To call someone frank is to link them with the Germanic people who conquered Gaul around 500 AD, the Franks, who gave their name to modern France and the French. After the conquest, full political freedom was granted only to ethnic Franks or to those of the subjugated Celts who were specifically brought under their protection. Hence, franc came to be used as an adjective meaning ‘free’ – a sense it retained when English acquired it from Old French: ‘He was frank and free born in a free city’, John Tiptoft, Julius Caesar’s commentaries 1470.

In both French and English, however, it gradually progressed semantically via ‘liberal, generous’ and ‘open’ to ‘candid’. Of related words in English, frankincense [14] comes from Old French franc encens, literally ‘superior incense’ (‘superior’ being a now obsolete sense of French franc), and franc [14], the French unit of currency, comes from the Latin phrase Francorum rex ‘king of the Franks’, which appeared on the coins minted during the reign of Jean le Bon (1350–64).

The Franks, incidentally, supposedly got their name from their preferred weapon, the throwing spear, in Old English franca.
=> french
frank (adj.)
c. 1300, "free, liberal, generous;" 1540s, "outspoken," from Old French franc "free (not servile); without hindrance, exempt from; sincere, genuine, open, gracious, generous; worthy, noble, illustrious" (12c.), from Medieval Latin francus "free, at liberty, exempt from service," as a noun, "a freeman, a Frank" (see Frank).

A generalization of the tribal name; the connection is that Franks, as the conquering class, alone had the status of freemen in a world that knew only free, captive, or slave. For sense connection of "being one of the nation" and "free," compare Latin liber "free," from the same root as German Leute "nation, people" (see liberal (adj.)) and Slavic "free" words (Old Church Slavonic svobodi, Polish swobodny, Serbo-Croatian slobodan) which are cognates of the first element in English sibling "brother, sister" (in Old English used more generally: "relative, kinsman").
Frank (n.)
one of the Germanic tribal people (Salian Franks) situated on the lower Rhine from 3c. that conquered Romano-Celtic northern Gaul c.500 C.E.; from their territory and partly from their language grew modern France and French. Old English franc, franca "freeman, noble; Frank, Frenchman," from Medieval Latin francus, a Late Latin borrowing of Frankish *Frank, the people's self-designation (cognate with Old High German Franko, the Latin word also is the source of Spanish and Italian names Franco).

The origin of the ethnic name is uncertain; it traditionally is said to be from the old Germanic word *frankon "javelin, lance" (compare Old English franca "lance, javelin"), their preferred weapon, but the reverse may be the case. Compare also Saxon, traditionally from root of Old English seax "knife." The adjectival sense of "free, at liberty" (see frank (adj.)) probably developed from the tribal name, not the other way round. It was noted by 1680s that, in the Levant, this was the name given to anyone of Western nationality (compare Feringhee and lingua franca).
frank (n.)
short for frankfurter, by 1916, American English. Franks and beans attested by 1953.
frank (v.)
"to free a letter for carriage or an article for publication, to send by public conveyance free of expense," 1708, from shortened form of French affranchir, from a- "to" + franchir "to free" (see franchise (v.)). A British parliamentary privilege from 1660-1840; in U.S. Congress, technically abolished 1873. Related: Franked; franking. As a noun, "signature of one entitled to send letters for free," from 1713.

双语例句

1. Frank Deford is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine.
弗兰克·德福特是杂志《名利场》的特约编辑。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Frank is of the opinion that the 1934 yacht should have won.
弗兰克认为本该是那艘1934年的帆船获胜。
来自柯林斯例句
3. She hadn't followed her instinct and because of this Frank was dead.
她没有听从自己心里的话，弗兰克因此死了。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Frank put the first plank down and nailed it in place.
弗兰克放下第一块厚木板，把它钉在合适的位置上。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Frank had been struck down by a massive heart attack.
弗兰克的身体已经被一场严重的心脏病拖垮了。
来自柯林斯例句