fraise
English
Etymology 1
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.
Verb
fraise (third-person singular simple present fraises, present participle fraising, simple past and past participle fraised)
Related terms
Etymology 2
Borrowed from French fraise (“ruff”), fraiser; compare French friser (“curl”), perhaps from Provençal frezar; ultimately from Germanic.
Noun
fraise (plural fraises)
- A type of palisade placed for defence around a berm; a defence consisting of pointed stakes driven into the ramparts in a horizontal or inclined position.
- (historical) A ruff worn (especially by women) in the 16th century.
- (historical) An embroidered scarf with its ends crossed over the chest and pinned, worn (especially by women) in the 19th century.
- 1874, Peterson's Magazine - Volume 65, page 90:
- 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.
- A fluted reamer for enlarging holes in stone; a small milling cutter.
- A tool for cutting the teeth of a timepiece's wheel to correct inaccuracies.
Derived terms
Verb
fraise (third-person singular simple present fraises, present participle fraising, simple past and past participle fraised)
- (military) To protect, as a line of troops, against an onset of cavalry, by opposing bayonets raised obliquely forward.
- 1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:
- to fraise a battaion is to line or cover it every way with bayonets
Etymology 3
See froise.
Noun
fraise (plural fraises)
- Alternative form of froise (“kind of pancake or omelette”)
- 1827, Antoine B. Beauvilliers, The Art of French Cookery, page 103:
- 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;
- 1855, Alexis Soyer, A Shilling Cookery for the People:
- 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.
Etymology 4
Borrowed from French fraise (“strawberry”), from earlier *fraige, from Latin frāga.

Noun
fraise (plural fraises)
- (heraldry) A stylized strawberry with leaves.
- 1846, William Newton (Patent Agent), A Display of Heraldry, page 352:
- 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 ...
- 1893, Sir James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, page 112:
- Az. a fraise arg. between three garbs or, all within a bordure engrailed of the second. George Cumming (1790)
- 2015, Howard Belton, A History of the World in Five Menus:
- The Emperor also gave the family three fraises, or stalked strawberries, for their coat of arms.
- 1846, William Newton (Patent Agent), A Display of Heraldry, page 352:
References
- Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908).
Further reading
- “fraise”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
French

Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fʁɛz/
audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛz
Noun
fraise f (plural fraises)
- strawberry
- (literary) nipple
- 1797, Marquis de Sade, Juliette, section I:
- Les doigts de notre charmante supérieure chatouillaient les fraises de mon sein, et sa langue frétillait dans ma bouche.
- The fingers of my charming lord tickled the nipples of my breasts, and his tongue explored my mouth.
- 2001, Dominique Leroy, Hic et Hec, page 53:
- un corset négligemment noué par une échelle de rubans gris de lin renfermait à demi la neige élastique de son sein, son mouchoir transparent, dérangé par les mouvements de la nuit, laissait voir une fraise vermeille [...].
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Derived terms
- aller aux fraises
- crème de fraise
- fraise des bois
- fraise des Indes
- fraisier
- fraisiériste
- ramener sa fraise
- sucrer les fraises
Descendants
- → Arabic: فريز (frēz)
- → English: fraise
- → Khmer: ហ្វ្រែហ្ស៍ (hvrɛɛh)
Etymology 2

Related to fraiser, or possibly from a Vulgar Latin *fresāre, from Latin fresum, past participle of frendō, or from a derived root *fresa. Compare Italian and Spanish fresa.
Noun
fraise f (plural fraises)
- bulwark, palisade (defensive rampart of earth with sharpened wooden stakes set in at an angle)
- calf's mesentery
- (historical) fraise (ruff collar)
- milling cutter
- (dentistry) dental drill
Descendants
- → Arabic: فَرَّاز (farrāz)
- → Dutch: frees
- → English: fraise
- → German: Fräse
- → Belarusian: фрэ́за (fréza)
- → Czech: fréza, frézka
- → Bulgarian: фре́за (fréza), фрез (frez)
- → Macedonian: фреза (freza)
- → Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic script: фре́за
- Latin script: fréza
- → Slovak: fréz, fréza, frézka
- → Slovene: frẹ̄za
- → Ukrainian: фре́за (fréza)
- ⇒ German: Fräser
- ⇒ German: Fräsmaschine
- → Bulgarian: фрезмаши́на (frezmašína)
- → Russian: фрезмаши́на (frezmašína)
- → Serbo-Croatian:
- → Cyrillic script: фрезмашина
- → Latin script: frezmašina
- → Polish: frez
- → Portuguese: fresa
- → Romanian: freză
- → Russian: фреза́ (frezá)
- → Spanish: fresa
- → Swedish: fräs
- → Ottoman Turkish: فرازه (freze)
- Turkish: freze
Verb
fraise
- inflection of fraiser:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “fraise”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.