Etymology

frantic

F4R1A1N1T1I1C3

Today it means: Insane, mentally unstable. Full definition →

Middle English frantike ← Old French frenetique ← Late Latin phreneticus
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The story

  1. Late Latin · derived fromphreneticus
  2. Old French · derived fromfrenetique
  3. Middle English · derived fromfrantike
  4. English todayfrantic

From Middle English frantike, frentik, variant of frenetik, from Old French frenetique, from Late Latin phreneticus, alteration of phreniticus, from φρενιτικός (phrenitikós, “mad, suffering from inflammation of the brain”), from φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”), from φρήν (phrḗn, “the brain”). Doublet of frenetic and phrenitic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.