Frost
Pronunciation
- RP IPA: /fɹɒst/
- GenAm IPA: /fɹɔst/, /fɹɑst/
- Rhymes: -É’st
Origin
From Middle English frost, from Old English frost ("frost"), from Proto-Germanic *frustaz ("frost"), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- ("to freeze; frost"). Cognate with West Frisian froast ("frost"), Dutch vorst ("frost"), German Frost ("frost"), Swedish frost ("frost"), Icelandic frost ("frost"), Latin pruīna ("hoarfrost, frost, rime, snow"). Related to freeze.
Full definition of frost
Noun
frost
(countable and uncountable; plural frosts)- A cover of minute ice crystals on objects that are exposed to the air. Frost is formed by the same process as dew, except that the temperature of the frosted object is below freezing.
- 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 47.It is more probable, in almost every country of Europe, that there will be frost sometime in January, than that the weather will continue open throughout that whole month;
- The cold weather that causes these ice crystals to form.
- (figurative) Coldness or insensibility; severity or rigidity of character.
- Sir Walter ScottIt was one of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow-wreath.
- (obsolete) The act of freezing; the congelation of water or other liquid.