Frú

Old Norse Dictionary - frú

Meaning of Old Norse word "frú" in English.

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

frú: f., an older nom. sing. frauva, u, f., occurs FmS. x. 421, (Ágrip); frouva, Stj. 47; frou, id.; frú is prop. a later contracted form from freyja; therefore the gen. in old writers is always frú (qs. frúvu); and the word is in the sing. indecl., thus, frú-innar, FmS. ix. 292; hann fékk frú Ceciliu, x. 3; móðir frú Ingigerðar, Landn. 240; frú Kristínar, FmS. ix. 8; slíkrar frou (sic) sem ek em, Str. 40, 47: in mod. usage gen. frúar, if used by itself or put after one’s name, but indecl. if put before it in addressing any one, thus, Frú Kristínar, but Kristínar frúar; the gen. frúar occurs FaS. iii. 586, in a MS. of the 15th century; pl. frúr, but older form fruvur or frovur, e. g. frovor, Edda (Arna-Magn.) i. 96 (Kb.); but Ob. frúr, Hkr. i. 16: [freyja was origin. fem. of freyr, and prop. meant Lat. domina; Germ. frau; Dan. frue; no Goth. fraujô is found]:—a lady; in Icel. at present only used of the wives of men of rank or title, e. g. biskups-frú, amtmanns-frú; wives of priests are not called so: again, húsfreyja is more homely, Germ. hausfrau, Engl. housewife, always of a married woman, vide e. g. the Þjóðólfr (Icel. newspaper): in the 14th century in Icel. frú was used of abbesses and wives of knights, but was little used before the 13th century: af hennar (the goddess Freyja) nafni skyldi kalla allar konur tignar (noble woman), svá sem nú heita fruvor, Hkr. l. c.; af hennar nafni er þat tignar-nafn er ríkis-konur (women of rank) eru kallaðar fruvor, Edda l. c.; Kolr hafði talat margt við frú eina ríka (of a foreign lady in Wales), Nj. 280: again, good housewives, such as Bergthora in Njála, are called hús-freyjur, but never frúr; thus, kemsk þó at seinna fari, húsfreyja, Nj. 69; gakk þú út, húsfreyja, þvíat ek vil þik fyrir öngan mun inni brenna, 200; búandi ok húsfreyja, Grág. i. 157; góð húsfreyja, Nj. 51; gild húsfreyja, Glúm. 349, BS. i. 535:—the Virgin Mary is in legends called vár frú, our Lady; cp. jungfrú (pronounced jómfrú).

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚠᚱᚢ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Abbreviations used:

cp.: compare.

Dan.: Danish.

decl.: declined.

e. g.: exempli gratia.

Engl.: English.

f.: feminine.

fem.: feminine.

gen.: genitive.

Germ.: German.

gl.: glossary.

Goth.: Gothic.

Icel.: Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.

id.: idem, referring to the passage quoted or to the translation

indecl.: indeclinable.

l.: line.

Lat.: Latin.

l. c.: loco citato.

m.: masculine.

mod.: modern.

n.: neuter.

nom.: nominative.

pl.: plural.

prop.: proper, properly.

qs.: quasi.

S.: Saga.

sing.: singular.

Works & Authors cited:

Arna-Magn.: Arna-Magnacanus.

Bs.: Biskupa Sögur. (D. III.)

Edda: Edda. (C. I.)

Fas.: Fornaldar Sögur. (C. II.)

Fms.: Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)

Glúm.: Víga-Glúms Saga. (D. II.)

Grág.: Grágás. (B. I.)

Hkr.: Heimskringla. (E. I.)

Kb.: Konungs-bók. (B. I, C. I, etc.)

Landn.: Landnáma. (D. I.)

Magn.: Magnús Saga jarls. (E. II.)

Nj.: Njála. (D. II.)

Ob.: Orms-bók. (C. I.)

Stj.: Stjórn. (F. I.)

Str.: Strengleikar. (G. II.)

➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

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This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.