▪ I. † fro n. Obs.—1
[? a. ON. fró in the same sense.]
Comfort, relief.
| c 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxxvi. 100 Of myne deden fynde y non fro. |
▪ II. fro Sc. frae, prep. (adv., conj.).
(frəʊ, fre)
Forms: α. (chiefly north. and Sc.) 2–7 fra, 5–6 fray, (6 fre, frea), 8–9 frae; β. 2– fro, (4–5 froo, 7 frow).
[a. ON. frá, corresp. to OE. fram, from.]
A. prep. (Now only Sc. and dial.)
1. = from in all its senses.
| α c 1200 Ormin 211 Fra þiss daȝȝ þu shallt ben dumb. Ibid. 1265 Swa ferr fra Godess riche. a 1300 Cursor M. 479 (Gött.) Lucifer..fell For his pride fra heuen to hell. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) Pref. 1 To..delyuer vs fra deed withouten end. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 9 Euery Satterday fra ane efter none to four houris. 1558 Kennedy Compend. Tractiue in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844) 103 To discerne the rycht understanding of the Scripture fra the wrang. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 163 To abstein fra flesh. 1788 Burns Naebody, I'll borrow frae nae-body. 1803 Wordsw. Yarrow Unv. v, Fair hangs the apple frae the rock. 1816 Scott Antiq. ix, After his walk frae the manse. 1876 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 174 You canna tell a tree frae a tether. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Fra, from. |
| β c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 111 Þis longe weie þe he ferde fro heuene to helle. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 89 God ledde hem fro helle niȝt to paradises leue liȝt. c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 256 Whan hit was fro his possession. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 138 And þus semen oure religious to be exempte fro charite. 1382 ― 2 Sam. xxiv. 15 Fro Dan vnto Bersabee. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 1 At Trumpington, nat fer fro Cantebrigge. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 54 Cloþede hem in copis, to be knowe fro oþere. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lii, Fro this day forth. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. i. 7 Fro al resonyng. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. xliv. 29 They went fro toune to toune. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 15 [He] gyueth fro hymselfe frely. 1581 Sidney Astr. & Stella ix, Where you may haue some defence Fro the storms in my breast breeding. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 261 Why did you throw your wedded Lady fro you? a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 29 Can cal vow'd men fro cloysters, dead from tombs. 1884 Cheshire Gloss., Fro, from. |
† b. In verse frequently placed after its n. (esp. as a rime-wd.). Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16814 + 20 Or þai parted hom froo. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 34 When heo was me fro, I loked and byhelde. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4120 That I mote goo So fer the fresh floures froo. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 258 That no tratur stylle his cors you fray. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 837 Bot othir dede, or ellis fled thaim fray. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. xxx. 13 The mourning weede thou tookest me fro. 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 87 Pas thought it hell, while he was Cosma fro. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iii. xvi, Well could he hit a fallow-deer Five hundred feet him fro. |
† c. fro oneself: ‘beside oneself’, out of one's wits. clean fro: quite contrary to. (Cf. from 8 b.)
| 1483 Vulgaria abs Terentio 18 b, I am fro my selfe for angyre. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour B iij, She bycam al frantyke and fro herself. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ccxix. [ccxv.] 676 They had spyces ynoughe, and bredde made of mylke, clene fro the nature of Fraunce. c 1530 ― Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 111 He was so sore dyspleased, that he was nye therwyth fro him selfe. |
2. Followed by other prepositions. (Cf. from 16.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14407 Fra amang þat cursed ledd. c 1340 Ibid. 25596 (Fairf.) Þou was tane fra of þe crosse. 1382 Wyclif Josh. viii. 11 Fro aȝens of the citee [Vulg. ex adverso civitatis]. 1382 ― Luke i. 78 He spryngynge vp fro an hiȝ hath visytid vs. c 1400 Gamelyn 803 Tho come Gamelyn fro under þe wode-rys. a 1592 Marlowe & Nashe Dido iii. (Rtldg.) 262/2 But I will tear thy eyes fro forth thy head. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 70 Than up there rase ane wee wee man Franethe the moss-gray stane. |
† 3. With an adverb in place of a n.-object. (Cf. from 15.) fro ðan ðat: from the time that. froforth: ? = from this time forth. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 17970 He þatt fra bibufenn comm. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 188 Fro ðan ðat he sinȝen bi-gan. a 1300 Cursor M. 932 Eue fra þan hir cald adam. Ibid. 10976 Þou sal be dumb fra nu. Ibid. 20078 For quam i com dun fra o-bouen. c 1340 Hampole Wks. (Horstman) I. 187 Sothely fra thy-thene Inryses a gret lufe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 109 Cam late fro biȝunde. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xii. 63 Be waar therfore frohens forthward. Ibid. ii. ix. 197 Whanne he were departid frothens. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 243 Ye may go fro hens forth where ye lyst. 1536 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. xxxv. 271 It is to trust..that party will also froforth..own to law all other abusions. |
† 4. Of, concerning. Cf. ON. frá. rare—1.
| c 1300 Harrow. Hell 28 More wo Then i con ou telle fro. |
B. adv. In a direction or position that is remote or apart; away. Now only in phr. to and fro (see to); for which rarely fro (fra) and till. † to do fro: to remove. Also, contrary, against. of or fro: for or against.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8927 Þar was a stank bot littel fra Hight piscina probatica. Ibid. 11937 Þat water moght rin fra and till, Vte of þe flum al atte will. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 197 Whan they come vp the smallest fro they do, So that the saddist faster may ascende. c 1450 Holland Howlat 270 Sum said to and sum fra, Sum nay and sum ȝa. 1562 Child-Marriages (E.E.T.S.) 204 He sais he cannot say anythinge of his honesty, of nor fro. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. Epit. A iij b, Passage to, fro, and through without danger. |
† b. Comb., as fro-leader = abductor 1. Obs.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 749 Called the Fro-leader or the muscle of Indignation or the Wayward muscle. |
† C. conj. (Chiefly north.) Obs.
1. From the time that, from the moment when; as soon as, when. Also, fra that.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1325, & al þurȝ dome of Daniel, fro he deuised hade, Þat alle goudes com of god. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 141 And fra he wyst quhat charge thai had, He buskyt hym, but mar abad. Ibid. 581 Fra at the Brwce to dede war brocht. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Petrus 536 And fra Marcellus þis cane se, He had þarof rycht mekil wondir. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxiv. 109 And, fra I come þare, I knewe wele þat it was oþerwise. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 39 Fra he was eght ȝers ald. Ibid. 3435 Fra þat god my saule will haue. 14.. Plumpton Corr. (1839) 28, I am siker he will thank you full hartely, fro I lett him witt. 15.. [Dunbar] Gif ȝe wald lufe 14 Poems (1893) 312 And he that is of hairt vntrew, Fra he be kend, fair weill, adew. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. x. 1 Fra that the ancyant nun of Dan Phebus Thir wordis endit had. |
2. In a logical sense: Since, seeing that.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 701 Syne efter him Alexander his bruther..Efter his deid succeidit in his steid, Fra this Edgair withoutin child wes deid. 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 43 Then, fra I saw (as I already told) How men complaind. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 102 Fra the follower haue founden borgh lawfullie. |
▪ III. † fro, v.
(frəʊ)
[? f. fro adv.]
† 1. intr. ? To go frowardly or untowardly, be unsuccessful. Obs. b. As ˈfroing vbl. n. (See to and fro phr. E.)
| 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. York xxiii, God that causeth thinges to fro or frame. |
▪ IV. fro
obs. form of frow, Dutchwoman.