Etymograph

English

frith

Frith comes from Middle English frith ‘forest, woodland’, from Proto-West Germanic *furhu ‘fir’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- ‘oak’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perkʷ-1‘oak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pérkus2‘oak’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*furhu2‘fir’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*furhiþi2‘forest, woodland’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fyrhþe2‘forest, wooded country’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frith2‘forest, woodland’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1612frith2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pérkus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English frith
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion: “As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*perkʷ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *pérkus‘oak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pérkusWiktionary, English frith‘oak’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*furhuWiktionary, English frith‘fir’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*furhiþiWiktionary, English frith‘forest, woodland’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fyrhþeWiktionary, English frith‘forest, wooded country’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frithWiktionary, English frith‘forest, woodland’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1612frithWiktionary, English frith. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion: “As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and…”

The story

The English word is cognate with Latin quercus (‘oak’), Old English fyrh (‘fir, pine’), Old High German forst, foreht (‘forest’), Old Norse fýri (‘pine-wood, coniferous forest’). Latin foresta (whence eventually English forest), may be borrowed from the same West Germanic source.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- ‘oak’

ever, firm, farm, forest, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *furhu ‘fir’

fir

through Middle English frith ‘forest, woodland’

firth

Today it means

noun A forest or wood; woodland generally.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “frith”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Indo-European *pérkus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- / frith

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