Frau
pronunciation
How to pronounce Frau in British English:
UK [frau]
How to pronounce Frau in American English:
US [fraʊ]
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- Noun:
- a married German woman; used as a title equivalent to Mrs. in English
Word Origin
- frau (n.)
- "married woman," 1813, from German Frau "woman, wife," from Middle High German vrouwe "lady, mistress," from Old High German frouwa "mistress, lady" (9c.), from Proto-Germanic *frowo "lady" (cognates: Old English freo "woman, lady," Middle Dutch vrouwe, Dutch vrow), fem. of *frawan "lord," from suffixed form of PIE *pro- (see pro-). Swedish fru, Danish frue are ultimately from Dutch; the proper Scandinavian form is preserved in Old Norse freyja "lady," husfreyja "mistress of the house."
Example
- 1. What do you want , frau hagemann ?
- 2. Would you like me to leave , frau muller ?
- 3. According to senora dolores , frau gudrun in her second year in san miguel had engaged the services of a young mexican carpenter to remodel the interior of the studio .
- 4. Meanwhile , french president nicolas sarkozy has been flying to frankfurt for desperate emergency meetings with frau merkel to try to prevent french banks from going belly-up .
- 5. Others believe frau schott was a secret devotee of the reverend stoecker , who , along with his attacks on jews , had begun deriding the government 's reliance on " this trained ape in man 's clothes . "