Standard Lemma guide

frith

name · noun · verb · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /fɹɪθ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪθ
  • CMU ARPABET: F R IH1 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A town in Montserrat (in the safe zone).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Peace; security.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, poetic, rare, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Sanctuary, asylum.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A forest or wood; woodland generally.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Land with mostly undergrowth and few trees; also, land in between forests or woods; pastureland which is not in use.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Brushwood or undergrowth, sometimes in the form of a hedge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A hedge, especially one made from brushwood which has been wattled; also, a movable frame made from wattled branches, a hurdle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A kind of weir made from wattled branches for catching fish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

Alternative form of firth (“an arm or inlet of the sea”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative, archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

verb

Meaning 11

To protect; guard.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

verb

Meaning 12

To enclose; fence in, as a forest or park.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

English and Scottish surname, spelling variant of Firth.

From Middle English frith, from Old English friþ, friþu (“peace, tranquility, security, refuge”), from Proto-West Germanic *friþu, from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace, reconciliation”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“beloved, happy”). Cognate with Dutch vrede (“peace, quiet, tranquility”), German Frieden (“peace, tranquility”), Danish fred (“peace, serenity”), Swedish frid (“peace, serenity”), Icelandic friður (“peace, tranquility”). Related to free.

From Middle English frith (“forest, woodland; hedging”), from Old English fyrhþe, fyrhþ (“forest, wooded country; game preserve, hunting ground”), from Proto-West Germanic *furhiþi (“forest, woodland”), Proto-Germanic *furhiþją (“forest, wooded country”), *furhiþǭ, from *furhu (“fir; pine”), from *furahō, *furhō (“fir; pine; (fir or pine) forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus (“oak”), from *perkw- (“oak”). The English word is cognate with Latin quercus (“oak”), Old English fyrh (“fir, pine”), Old High German forst, foreht (“forest”), Old Norse fýri (“pine-wood, coniferous forest”). Latin foresta (whence eventually English forest), may be borrowed from the same West Germanic source.

A metathetic variant of firth.

From Middle English frithen, from Old English friþian (“to give frith to, make peace with, be at peace with, cherish, protect, guard, defend, keep, observe”), from Proto-Germanic *friþōną (“to make peace, secure, protect”), from Proto-Indo-European *prēy-, *prāy- (“to like, love”). Cognate with Scots frethe, freith (“to set free, liberate”), Danish frede (“to have peace, protect, inclose, fence in”), Swedish freda (“to cover, protect, quiet, inclose, fence in”), Icelandic friða (“to make peace, preserve”).