Etymograph

English

fro

Fro comes from Old Norse frá ‘from’, from Proto-Germanic *fram ‘from’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *promo- ‘forth, forward’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*promo-1‘forth, forward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fram1‘from’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350frá1‘from’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fra1‘from’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fro1‘from’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512fro1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fro
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “The preest that hawkys so, All grace is far…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*promo-Wiktionary, English fro‘forth, forward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*framWiktionary, English fro‘from’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350fráWiktionary, English fro‘from’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fraWiktionary, English fro‘from’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500froWiktionary, English fro‘from’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512froWiktionary, English fro. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “The preest that hawkys so, All grace is far…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *promo- ‘forth, forward’

perform, frame, furnish, 2 more

through Proto-Germanic *fram ‘from’

from, veneer

Today it means

adv From; away; back or backward.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fro”. 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 *promo- / fro

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