Meanings
fraise1
present singular third person fraises · participle present fraising · participle past fraised · past fraised
fraise2
plural fraises
- historicalA ruff worn (especially by women) in the 16th century.
- historicalAn embroidered scarf with its ends crossed over the chest and pinned, worn (especially by women) in the 19th century.
Among the most conspicuous is the pelerine collar, made of black velvet, and forming a fraise round the throat. The fraise is lined with such light-colored silks as pink and blue, and the pelerine is piped with silk of the same color.
1874, Peterson's Magazine - Volume 65, page 90 - A tool for cutting the teeth of a timepiece's wheel to correct inaccuracies.
present singular third person fraises · participle present fraising · participle past fraised · past fraised
- governmentTo protect, as a line of troops, against an onset of cavalry, by opposing bayonets raised obliquely forward.
to fraise a battaion is to line or cover it every way with bayonets
1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
fraise3
plural fraises
- alternativeAlternative form of froise (“kind of pancake or omelette”).
It is related of Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough, that no one could cook a fraise, as it was then called, for the great duke but herself.
1855, Alexis Soyer, A Shilling Cookery for the People1 more example
Take a fraise and one udder or two (according to their size) of the veal, blanch and let them cool, mince them ; hash some mushrooms, shalots, parsley, and truffle;
1827, Antoine B. Beauvilliers, The Art of French Cookery, page 103
fraise4
plural fraises
- governmentA stylized strawberry with leaves.
The Emperor also gave the family three fraises, or stalked strawberries, for their coat of arms.
2015, Howard Belton, A History of the World in Five Menus2 more examples
The surname of Bernard is derived from the ancestor carrying, for his device, Argent, a bear rampant sable muzzled or; the name of Frazer from the bearing of fraises or strawberry leaves; and many other instances might be adduced ...
1846, William Newton (Patent Agent), A Display of Heraldry, page 352Az. a fraise arg. between three garbs or, all within a bordure engrailed of the second. George Cumming (1790)
1893, Sir James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, page 112
fraise5
- UKdateddialectalCommotion.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
fraise · verb
- Old Dutch*freisōn
- Middle Dutchvreisen
- Proto-Indo-European*per-“to attempt, try; risk, peril”
- Proto-Germanic*fraisōną“to attempt, try”
- Old Englishfrāsian“to ask, try, tempt”
- Middle Englishfraisen
- Englishfraise
From Middle English fraisen, from Old English frāsian (“to ask, try, tempt”), from Proto-Germanic *fraisōną (“to attempt, try”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to attempt, try; risk, peril”). Cognate with West Frisian freezje (“to fear”), Dutch vrezen (“to fear, dread, be afraid”), German freisen (“to put at risk, endanger, terrify”). Alternatively the Middle English fraisen was borrowed from Middle Dutch vreisen, vresen (“to be afraid; to endanger, threaten, frighten”), from Old Dutch *freisōn, *frēsōn, from the same Proto-West Germanic source above.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →fraise · noun, verb
- Germanic
- Provençalfrezar
- Frenchfraise“ruff”
- Englishfraise
Borrowed from French fraise (“ruff”), fraiser; compare French friser (“curl”), perhaps from Provençal frezar; ultimately from Germanic.
More words from French, Provençal, Germanic
Full word history & related roots →fraise · noun
- Latinfrāga
- Frenchfraise“strawberry”
- Englishfraise
Borrowed from French fraise (“strawberry”), from earlier *fraige, from Latin frāga.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fraise
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
fraise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fraise
“fraise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fraise. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fraise,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fraise.
Source: fraise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.