▪ I. † frequent, n. Obs. rare—2.
[f. frequent v.]
Frequentation, resort.
| 1631 R. Brathwait Whimzies, Decoy 28 Private alleys are his sanctuaryes in the citie: but places of publike frequent in the countrey. 1635 ― Arcad. Pr. ii. 162 Private solitary groves Shut from frequent, his contemplation loves. |
▪ II. frequent, a.
(ˈfriːkwənt)
[ad. L. frequent-em crowded, frequent; cognate with farcīre to stuff (see farce v.1).]
† 1. Of persons, an assembly, etc.: Assembled in great numbers, crowded, full. Often in full and frequent. Obs.
| 1590 Disc. conc. Span. Invas. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 166 There was generally made throughout the whole realm a most frequent assembly of all sorts of people. 1606 Holland Sueton. 14 He..in a ful and frequent assemblie..besought the faithfull helpe and assistance of his soldiers. c 1611 Chapman Iliad ii. 71 As when of frequent bees Swarms rise out of a hollow rock. 1638 Baillie Lett. (1775) I. 37 To-morrow, in Stirling, is expected a frequent council. 1674 Dryden State Innoc. i. Wks. 1883 V. 128 'Tis fit in frequent senate we confer. 1725 Pope Odyss. xvi. 377 Apart they sate, And full and frequent, form'd a dire debate. 1746 H. Walpole Lett. to Sir H. Mann (1857) II. 38 One hundred and thirty-nine Lords were present, and made a noble sight on their benches frequent and full! |
† b. Of a place: Filled, full, crowded (with persons, rarely with things). Also, much resorted to, frequented. Obs.
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. p. xviii, The erd is now mair frequent in pepil than it was. 1555 Grindal Rem. (1843) 239 Master Scory and certain other..have an English Church there, but not very frequent. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 342 When he was to play upon his harpe, for a prize in some frequent Theater. 1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Frequent, much haunted, or goe too. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 1 The town..seemed frequent and full of people. 1815 Shelley Alastor 93 Halls, Frequent with crystal column, and clear shrines Of pearl. |
2. Found at short distances apart; numerous, abundant. Somewhat arch.
| 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 2 [Britaine is]..beautified with many populous Cities..frequent Hospitals [etc.]. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 343 There is no Beast so frequent as these in all Cilicia. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 2 Pirats and Pickaroones: which are very frequent upon the Coasts of Spain. 1705 Addison Italy (1766) 149 Through frequent cracks the steaming sulphur broke. 1722 D. Coxe Carolina 86 The Plant..is very frequent in most of the Southern Parts of this Country. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 217 Walls..flanked and crowned by frequent square towers. 1860 Hawthorne Transform. II. xvi. 275 It was a wise and lovely sentiment, that set up the frequent shrine and cross along the roadside. |
3. Commonly used or practised, well known, common, usual. Now rare. † frequent to: commonly occurring in.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. iii. vii, Howe frequent and familiar a thynge with euery astate and degre throughout Christendome is this reuerent othe. 1635 A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 39, I have not..used any one word not frequent and familiar. a 1668 Davenant Siege i. Dram. Wks. 1873 IV. 375 In the epistles Dedicatory..'tis frequent To bely men with praise. 1706 Congreve Disc. Pindaric Ode A j, There is nothing more frequent among us, than..Pindarique Odes. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 239 Such enamelled plates being frequent to old watches instead of crystals. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 139 Such we may rely on it was a picture, and a correct one, of frequent life. 1869 Times 1 Jan. 4 It is frequent to impute to Radicals the wish to ‘Americanize our institutions’. |
† b. Of a report, etc.: Widely current. Of a book: Widely circulated, popular. Obs.
| 1623 Crt. & Times Jas. I (1849) II. 369, I was not then fully persuaded of the prince's going to Spain, though the report were frequent, from London. 1626 Massinger Rom. Actor i. i, 'Tis frequent in the city he hath subdued The Catti and the Daci. 1628 Earle Microcosm., Pot-Poet (Arb.) 46 His frequent'st Workes goe out in single sheets. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 62 The story is frequent. |
4. Happening or occurring at short intervals; often recurring; coming or happening in close succession. Of the pulse: Faster than is normal or usual (cf. F. pouls fréquent).
The prevailing sense, by which all the others, so far as they survive, are more or less coloured.
| 1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Frequent, often, done many times. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 260 This watch-word will be frequent in his cups. 1662–3 Marvell Corr. xxxvii. Wks. 1872–5 II. 83 Concerning which you may expect frequente letters. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 43 This Pulse is feverish..and frequenter than the former. 1750 T. Newton Postscr. to Milton's P.L., There have been frequent forgeries in the literary world. 1795 Gentl. Mag. 539/2 The blights were this year..more frequent, and..more destructive than usual. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i, These green banks..Brown, when I left them last, with frequent feet. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxiii. 166 The snow was deep..and our immersions in unseen holes very frequent. |
5. Addicted to, wont to indulge in (a practice, course of action); accustomed to do (something); given to repetition in (a subject). Now rare.
| 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 911 Bot weill ȝe knaw, thair is na men frequent To enter heir. 1608 Dod & Cleaver Expos. Prov. ix. & xii. 101 The holy Ghost in this booke, is very frequent in this point. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. ii. 36 He is..lesse frequent to his Princely exercises then formerly he hath appeared. 1616 Donne Serm. cliii. (Alford) VI. 118 The fathers were frequent in comparing..Eve the Mother of Man and Mary the Mother of God. 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. 7 How frequent the Scripture is in the prohibition of this practice. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 244 ¶5 Fellows of this Class are very frequent in the Repetition of the Words Rough and Manly. 1854–58 Newman Idea of University (1873) 329 Milton is frequent in allusions to his own history and circumstances. |
6. † a. That is often at or in (a place). Obs. b. (with an agent-noun): That does a thing often; constant, habitual, regular.
| 1611 Bible 2 Cor. xi. 23 In prisons more frequent: in deaths oft. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love i. iv, In suffering such a crew of riotous gallants..to be so frequent Both in your house and presence. 1628 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 208 Fyve of the frequentest Comunicants. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 306 The timorous hare, Grown so familiar with her frequent guest, Scarce shuns me. 1857 Willmott Pleas. Lit. xi. 49 Of course, the frequent writer will in time be quick. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. vii. 211 The Professor was a frequent guest at my grandmother's tea-table. |
† c. That is often in company with (a person); familiar; conversant in (a subject). Obs.
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxvii, Accuse me thus..That I haue frequent binne with vnknowne mindes. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 214 A talkative Barber: with whome he is the more frequent. 1631 Heywood Eng. Eliz. (1641) 52 He was..In the liberall arts so frequent, that they appeared rather innate and born with him, then..acquired. 1632 ― 2nd Pt. Iron Age To Rdr., Wks. 1874 III. 352 Euery hard name, which may appeare obscure or intricate to such as are not frequent in Poetry. |
7. quasi-adv. (Also, in illiterate use, as a real adv. = Frequently, often.)
| 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 6 Such like more occurre in ancient and later Storie very frequent. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 61 Th' old And crazy earth has had her shaking fits More frequent. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. 490 Nor frequent does the bright oar break The darkening mirror of the lake. 1870 B. Harte Truthf. James ii, But his smile it was pensive and childlike, As I frequent remarked to Bill Nye. |
Hence ˈfrequentness, the state or condition of being frequent; frequency.
| 1664 H. More Expos. Seven Churches c 7 a, The more-then-ordinary frequentness of burning the blessed Protestant Martyrs..in this Period. 1668 ― Div. Dial. ii. viii. 217 Admit the necessity of dying, what necessity or conveniency of the frequentness of Diseases? 1862 Burton Bk. Hunter 344 The frequentness of saintship among the Irish. |
▸ frequent flyer n. (a) a person who regularly travels by aeroplane, esp. on the same route or with the same airline; (b) attrib., designating or relating to a consumer incentive scheme under which credits accumulated with qualifying transactions (originally flights booked with the same airline) are redeemable against the cost of future travel and other leisure services; cf. air mile n. 2.
| 1980 Business Week (Nexis) 28 Apr. 104 Pan American..gave international passengers souvenir plates last summer,..but discarded the idea after *frequent fliers complained about getting duplicates. 1981 Washington Post (Nexis) 25 Oct. e1 Delta's ‘Frequent Flyer’ program, which requires travelers to sign up ahead of time, is less generous than Northwest's. 1988 Los Angeles Times 7 Feb. vii. 9/1 With the latest round of triple mileage offers to frequent fliers, the airlines have finally, it seems, taken leave of their senses... The hazard is that the airlines are running up an indebtedness to frequent-flier club members of hundreds of millions..of miles. 2000 D. Brooks Bobos in Paradise 149 Airborne academics hop from conference to conference, racking up frequent flyer miles and comparing notes on duty-free opportunities around the globe. |
▪ III. frequent, v.
(frɪˈkwɛnt)
[ad. L. frequentāre, f. frequent-em frequent. Cf. F. fréquenter (recorded from 12th c.).]
1. trans. To visit or make use of (a place) often; to resort to habitually; to attend (a meeting, etc.).
| 1555 Eden Decades 320 The nauigation to India was then wel knowen and frequented. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. xv. 266 Many..haue frequented sermons with appearance of great deuotion. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 769 This house is fiftie or threescore yards long, frequented onely by Priests. 1694 Gibson in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 227 He constantly frequented the Presbyterian meetings. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 148 ¶4 A Coffee-house which I myself frequent. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 193 Some of those ways through the hills were much frequented. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §11 Proper ideas or materials are only to be got by frequenting good company. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1888) III. 248 Drawing in the academy, which was then frequented, though established only by private contributions among the artists. 1834 L. Hunt Town iv. (1848) 191 The Church of St. Clement Danes..was the one most frequented by Dr. Johnson. 1860 Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 213 Whales of the species called ‘California Greys’, frequent this..bay. |
2. To visit or associate with (a person); to be frequently with (a person) or in (his company). Now somewhat rare.
| 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 123 Frequente and haunte the companyes of wysemen and not of the riche. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 293 If you frequent the companie of Crates, a man indued with rare wisdome. 1580 Sidney Ps. xxvi. iii, I did not them frequent, Who be to vainesse bent. 1616 in J. Brown Bunyan i. (1887) 4 He doth frequent and keep company with Margarett Bennett. 1683 Penn Wks. (1782) IV. 307 Nor do their husbands frequent them till that time [their month] be expired. a 1734 North Lives (1826) II. 192 His Lordship had one friend that used to frequent him much. 1889 Lowell Latest Lit. Ess. (1892) 145 It is for other and greater virtues that I would frequent the Greeks. |
† b. Of a disease: To attack often. Obs. rare—1.
| 1632 tr. Bruel's Praxis Med. 59 This disease..doth frequent children. |
† 3. To use habitually or repeatedly; to practise.
| 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 29 Charles..by ardaunt desyre frequented the bookes composed vpon the crysten fayth. 1541 Bible (Cranmer) title-p., The Byble in Englyshe..to be frequented and used in everye Churche within this his sayd realme. 1546 Langley tr. Pol. Verg. de Invert. i. xi. 226 The Great Prophet Dauid, whiche songe the Misteries of God in Meter frequented Singing. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. Epit. A, Vertue and commendable behaviour, was of them both so frequented and followed. 1614 W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) 105 The oyle of Oliues they..frequented..sparingly. 1642 W. Bird Mag. Hon. 55 And after that the word Baron seemeth to be frequented in this Realm in lieu and place of the word Thane. 1665–7 Dryden Ess. Dram. Poesy (1668) 43 A Play which has been frequented the most of any he has writ. |
† b. To celebrate (a sacrament, etc.); to honour with observances. Cf. F. fréquenter. Obs.
| a 1555, 1669 [see the vbl. n.]. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 375 He gaue the Image of his Passion to be frequented [celebrandam] in the Church. 1579 Fulke Refut. Rastel 723 The Christians did solemnelye frequent the memories of the martyrs. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 343 b, God did institute in his Church two Sacramentes..If we do not frequent these in that sincerity of Religion..Let us be condemned. |
† c. refl. To busy oneself about something. Obs.
| a 1562 G. Cavendish Wolsey (1893) 216 He dayly frequentyng hymeself abought suche busynes and deeds of honest charitie. |
† 4. To familiarize with. Obs. [Cf. frequent a. 6 b.]
| 1588 Exhort. to H.M. faithful Subjects in Harl. Misc. II. 93 Ye encounter with them that are rich, hardy, resolute, and frequented with daily victories. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 219 [The Armenians practised certain vices] which my conscience commands me to conceale: least I frequent this Northern world with that which their nature never knew. |
† 5. intr. To resort to or unto (a person or place); to associate with (a person); to be often in or about (a place). Obs.
| 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 96 An infinite multitude..frequented vnto Paulus. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 467, I frequented more often to Camilla. 1599 Sir R. Wrothe in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 181 Sertaine lewde fellowes..which doe frequente and use aboute Layton heath. 1651 tr. Life Father Sarpi (1676) 67 He frequented much with Fra. Antonio da Viterbo. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. i. vii. 123 Will she frequent in Towns, or will she resort to unhabited places? 1725 Pope Odyss. v. 128 Far from all the ways Where men frequent. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xxv, Nor track nor pathway might declare That human foot frequented there. |
† 6. trans. a. To crowd or pack closely together. b. To crowd, fill (a place). c. To supply abundantly. Obs.
| 1578 [see frequented ppl. a.]. 1596 Drayton Legends ii. 253 These brimfull Eyes With Tydes of Teares continually frequented. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1091 With tears Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air Frequenting. 1682 R. Burton Admir. Cur. (1684) 82 Winchester is a City which flourished in the time of the Romans and now indifferently peopled, and frequented by water. |
Hence freˈquenting vbl. n.
| a 1555 Ridley in Confer. betw. Ridley & Latymer (1556) 16 b, The..institution of our sauior Christe, for the ofte frequenting of the remembrance of his deathe. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 138 b, As touchyng Luthers frequentyng of Hyperbolicall speaches. 1669 Woodhead St. Teresa i. xix. (1671) 119 Here comes in the frequenting of the Sacraments. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 376 Birds, by whose frequentings he arrives to the top of his hopes. 1870 Lubbock Orig. Civiliz. v. 163 Which may be known from ordinary snakes by certain signs, such as their frequenting huts, not eating mice [etc.]. |