Etymology, English, Fresh

Etymology 

Adjective. From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersc (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”).

Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Norwegian and Danish frisk (“fresh”), fersk, Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian prėskas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian пре́сный (présnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”). Doublet of fresco.

Also as an 1848 US slang, probably from German frech (“impudent, cheeky, insolent”), from Middle High German vrech (“bold, brave, lively”), from Old High German freh (“greedy, eager, avaricious, covetous”), from Proto-Germanic *frekaz (“greedy, outrageous, courageous, capable, active”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pereg- (“to be quick, twitch, sprinkle, splash”). Cognate with Old English frec (“greedy; eager, bold, daring; dangerous”) and Danish fræk (“naughty”).

Adjective

fresh (comparative fresher, superlative freshest)

1. Newly produced or obtained; recent.

   He followed the fresh hoofprints to find the deer.

   I seem to make fresh mistakes every time I start writing.

   With his recent divorce still fresh in his mind, he was unable to concentrate on his work.

2. (of food) Not cooked, dried, frozen, or spoiled.

   Antonym: stale

   After taking a beating in the boxing ring, the left side of his face looked like fresh meat.

   I brought home from the market a nice bunch of fresh spinach leaves straight from the farm.

   a glass of fresh milk

3. (of plant material) Still green and not dried.
4. Invigoratingly cool and refreshing.

   Synonym: cool

   What a nice fresh breeze.

5. (of water) Without salt; not saline.

   Antonym: saline

   After a day at sea it was good to feel the freshwater of the stream.

6. Rested; not tired or fatigued.

   Synonym: rested

   Antonym: tired

7. In a raw or untried state; uncultured; unpracticed.

   a fresh hand on a ship

8. Youthful; florid.
9. (slang) Good, fashionable.

   Synonyms: cool, fashionable

   a fresh pair of sneakers

10. (archaic, slang) Tipsy; drunk.

Adverb

fresh (not comparable)

1. recently; just recently; most recently

   We are fresh out of milk.

Noun

fresh (plural freshes)

1. A rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.
2. A stream or spring of freshwater.
3. The mingling of freshwater with salt in rivers or bays, as by means of a flood of fresh water flowing toward or into the sea.

Verb

fresh (third-person singular simple present freshes, present participle freshing, simple past and past participle freshed)

1. (commercial fishing) To pack (fish) loosely on ice.
2. To flood or dilute an area of salt water with flowing fresh water.
3. (of wind) To become stronger.
4. To rebore the barrel of a rifle or shotgun.
5. To update.
6. To freshen up.
7. To renew.
8. (of a dairy cow) to give birth to a calf.