frow

F4R1O1W4
/fɹaʊ/UK/fɹəʊ/US/fɹoʊ/

noun

A woman; a wife, especially a Dutch or German one.

OriginMiddle Dutch vrouwe ← Old Dutch *frōwa ← Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā →
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

frow1

nounfrow (plural frows)

plural frows

  1. A woman; a wife, especially a Dutch or German one.

    Mrs. Frances, a Frow, Daughter to Vanlock

    c. 1622, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger [et al.?], “Beggars Bush”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
    1 more example

    1846, Captain Butler, A Glimpse of the Frontier, and a Gallop through the Cape Colony, W. Harrison Ainsworth (editor), The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist, 1846, Part 2, page 466, […] on our way we stopped at several houses, our companions having numerous acquaintances among the young frows, to flirt with after their ungainly fashion. Cape Dutch is not the language for love.

  2. obsoleteA slovenly woman; a wench; a lusty woman.
  3. obsoleteA big, fat woman; a slovenly, coarse, or untidy woman; a woman of low character.

frow2

nounfrow (plural frows)

plural frows

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of froe (“cleaving tool”).

frow3

adjectivefrow (comparative more frow, superlative most frow)

comparative more frow · superlative most frow

  1. dialectalBrittle; tender; crisp

    that which grows in gravel is subject to be frow, as they term it , and brittle

    1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
broadfromwardgashgeezerma'amold ladysheilathroetroublewaifuwifewoman

Origin

frow · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*prōw-“right; judge, master”
  2. Proto-Germanic*frawjǭ“lady, mistress”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*frauwjā
  4. Old Dutch*frōwa
  5. Middle Dutchvrouwe“lady”
  6. Englishfrow

From Middle Dutch vrouwe (“lady”), from Old Dutch *frōwa, from Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ (“lady, mistress”), from Proto-Indo-European *prōw- (“right; judge, master”). Cognate with Dutch vrouw (“woman, wife, lady, mistress”), Low German frouw, frauw (“woman, wife, lady”), German Frau (“woman, wife, lady”), Swedish fru, Icelandic freyja (“lady, mistress”, in compounds), Old English frōwe (“woman”), Old English frēa (“lord, master, husband”). Doublet of frau, vrou, and vrouw.

More words from Middle Dutch, Old Dutch, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

frow · adjective

  1. Middle Englishfrow
  2. Englishfrow

From Middle English frow, frough, frogh, frouh, frouȝ (“brittle; tender; fickle; slack; loose”), cognate with Scots frooch, freuch (“dry and brittle”). Of obscure origin. Perhaps also related to Middle Dutch vro, vroo, Middle Low German vrô, German froh.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with frow

toourdonosonowhowgoknowshowolowbelowcoproagothoughohalthoughallowflowpojoemo
All rhymes →

Anagrams

rowf
Cite this entry
APA

frow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/frow

MLA

“frow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/frow. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “frow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/frow.

Source: frow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.