frowsty (adj.)

"having an unpleasant smell," 1865, of unknown origin; perhaps related to Old French frouste "ruinous, decayed," or to Old English þroh "rancid;" both of which also are of uncertain origin. Also compare frowzy.

also from 1865

Entries linking to frowsty

frowzy (adj.)

also frowsy, 1680s, possibly related to dialectal frowsty (q.v.).

Trends of frowsty

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

calamity

early 15c., "damage, state of adversity;" 1550s, "a great misfortune or cause of misery," from Old French calamite (14c.), from Latin calamitatem (nominative calamitas) "damage, loss, failure; disaster, misfortune, adversity," a word of obscure origin. Early etymologists associat

Salem

place mentioned in Genesis xiv.18, from Hebrew Shālēm, usually said to be another name for Jerusalem and to mean "peace" (compare Hebrew shalom, Arabic salaam). A typical meetinghouse name among Baptists and Methodists, so much so that by mid-19c. it (along with Bethel and Ebenez

pride

Middle English prede, from late Old English pryto, Kentish prede, Mercian pride "unreasonable self-esteem, especially as one of the deadly sins; haughtiness, overbearing treatment of others; pomp, love of display," from prud (see proud (adj.)). There is debate whether Scandinavia

passion

c. 1200, "the sufferings of Christ on the Cross; the death of Christ," from Old French passion "Christ's passion, physical suffering" (10c.), from Late Latin passionem (nominative passio) "suffering, enduring," from past-participle stem of Latin pati "to endure, undergo, experien

bosom

Old English bosm "breast; womb; surface; ship's hold," from West Germanic *bōsmaz (source also of Old Frisian bosm, Old Saxon bosom, Middle Dutch boesem, Dutch boezem, Old High German buosam, German Busen "bosom, breast"), which is perhaps from PIE root *bhou- "to grow, swell," o

idol

mid-13c., "image of a deity as an object of (pagan) worship," from Old French idole "idol, graven image, pagan god" (11c.), from Latin idolum "image (mental or physical), form," especially "apparition, ghost," but used in Church Latin for "false god, image of a pagan deity as an

ring

[circular band] Old English hring "circlet of metal, especially one of a precious metal for wearing on the finger ornamentally, also a part of a mail coat; anything circular," from Proto-Germanic *hringaz "something curved, circle" (source also of Old Norse hringr, Old Frisian hr

touch

late 13c., "make deliberate physical contact with," from Old French tochier "to touch, hit, knock; mention, deal with" (11c., Modern French toucher), from Vulgar Latin *toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (source also of Spanish tocar, Italian toccare), perhaps of imitative orig

bunting

"light woolen stuff loosely woven, flag-material," 1742, of uncertain origin; perhaps from a dialectal survival of Middle English bonting "sifting," verbal noun from bonten "to sift," because cloth was used for sifting grain. The Middle English verb is via Old French, from Vulgar

proselyte

"one who changes from one sect, creed, etc. to another," late 14c., proselite, "a convert, especially "a heathen convert to Judaism" (in Biblical writings, e.g. Matthew xxiii.15, Ezekiel xiv.7), from Old French proselite (13c., Modern French prosélyte), from Late Latin proselytus

Share frowsty

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/frowsty

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/frowsty">Etymology of frowsty by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of frowsty. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/frowsty

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of frowsty,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/frowsty.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of frowsty.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/frowsty. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of frowsty.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/frowsty (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on September 28, 2017

Remove ads >

Trending words

1. teacher
2. autumn
3. empathy
4. philadelphia
5. research
6. vote
7. pan
8. deluge
9. humble
10. compassion

Dictionary entries near frowsty

frou-frou

frounce

frow

froward

frown

frowsty

frowzy

frozen

fructify

fructose

frug