frounce

noun /fɹaʊns/

1. A canker in the mouth of a hawk.

   To come to his fyst; She loked as she had the frounce; […]

   The hawke had no lyst

2. A plait or curl.

Where it comes from

From Middle English frouncen, from Old French froncir "to wrinkle, frown", from Frankish *hrunkiju (“a wrinkle”), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkijō, *hrunkitō (“fold, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Akin to Old High German runza "fold, wrinkle, crease" (German Runzel "wrinkle"), Middle Dutch ronse "frown", Old Norse hrukka "wrinkle, crease" (Icelandic hrukka "wrinkle, crease, ruck"). More at ruck₂.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry frounce (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← frornfrowsty →

Another random word More words starting with F