fraught

fraught
\ \ [14] Fraught and freight [15] are related, and share the underlying meaning ‘load’. But whereas freight has stayed close to its semantic roots, fraught, which started out as ‘laden’, has moved on via ‘supplied or filled with something’ to specifically ‘filled with anxiety or tension’. It was originally the past participle of a now obsolete verb fraughtload a ship’, which was borrowed from Middle Dutch vrachten. This in turn was a derivative of the noun vrachtload, cargo’, a variant of vrecht (from which English gets freight). Both vracht and vrecht probably go back to a prehistoric Germanic noun *fraaikhtiz, whose second element *-aikhtiz is related to English owe and own.
\ \ Cf.FREIGHT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • fraught — [fro:t US fro:t] adj [Date: 1300 1400; Origin: Past participle of fraught to load, fill (14 19 centuries), from Middle Dutch vracht load ] 1.) fraught with problems/difficulties/danger etc full of problems etc ▪ Their marriage has been fraught… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Fraught — Fraught, a. Freighted; laden; filled; stored; charged. [1913 Webster] A vessel of our country richly fraught. Shak. [1913 Webster] A discourse fraught with all the commending excellences of speech. South. [1913 Webster] Enterprises fraught with… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fraught — [ frɔt ] adjective fraught with something full of problems, difficulties, or things that are confusing: a thousand word statement fraught with ambiguities 2. ) MAINLY BRITISH involving problems that worry you: Things have been a bit fraught at… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Fraught — Fraught, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fraughted} or {Fraught}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fraughting}.] [Akin to Dan. fragte, Sw. frakta, D. bevrachten, G. frachten, cf. OHG. fr[=e]ht[=o]n to deserve. See {Fraught}, n.] To freight; to load; to burden; to fill; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fraught — Fraught, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fraughted} or {Fraught}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fraughting}.] [Akin to Dan. fragte, Sw. frakta, D. bevrachten, G. frachten, cf. OHG. fr[=e]ht[=o]n to deserve. See {Fraught}, n.] To freight; to load; to burden; to fill; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fraught — fraught·age; un·fraught; fraught; …   English syllables

  • fraught — ► ADJECTIVE 1) (fraught with) filled with (something undesirable). 2) causing or affected by anxiety or stress. ORIGIN from obsolete fraught «load with cargo», from Dutch vracht ship s cargo ; related to FREIGHT(Cf. ↑freight) …   English terms dictionary

  • fraught — [frôt] adj. [ME fraught, pp. of fraughten, to freight < MDu vrachten < vracht, a load < Gmc * fraaichtiz < * fra (akin to FOR1) + * aig , to have > Goth aigan, OWE] 1. filled, charged, or loaded (with) [a life fraught with… …   English World dictionary

  • Fraught — (fr[add]t), n. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr[=e]ht merit, reward; perh. from a pref. corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf. {Freight}.] A freight; a cargo. [Obs.] Shak. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • fraught — index full, replete Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • fraught — early 14c., laden (of vessels), pp. of M.E. fraughten to load (a ship) with cargo, from fraght cargo, lading of a ship (early 13c.), variant of freight; influenced by M.Du. vrachten to load or furnish with cargo, from P.Gmc. *fra aihtiz (see… …   Etymology dictionary

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