/fɹɪsk/
OriginFrom Middle English frisk (“lively, frisky”), from Middle French frisque (“lively, jolly, blithe, fine, spruce, gay”), of Germanic origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch frisc (“fresh”) or Old High German frisc (“fresh”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”). Cognate with Icelandic frískur (“frisky, fresh”). Doublet of fresco and fresh. More at fresh.
Alternative etymology derives frisk from an alteration (due to Old French fresche (“fresh”)) of Old French fricque, frique (“smart, strong, playful, bright”), from Gothic *𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌺𐍃 (*friks, “greedy, hungry”), from Proto-Germanic *frekaz, *frakaz (“greedy, active”), from Proto-Indo-European *preg- (“greedy, fierce”). Cognate with Middle Dutch vrec (“greedy, avaricious”), German frech (“insolent”), Old English frec (“greedy, eager, bold, daring, dangerous”). More at freak.
- archaicLively; brisk.
“Her hands must hide her mouth if she but smile; Fain would she seem all frisk and frolic still”
- A little playful skip or leap; a brisk and lively movement.
- The act of frisking, of searching for something by feeling someone's body.
“The customs officer gave me a frisk after I went through the metal detector.”
- intransitiveTo frolic, gambol, skip, dance, leap.
- transitiveTo search (someone) by feeling their body and clothing.
“The police frisked the suspiciously-acting individual and found a knife as well as a bag of marijuana.”
- transitiveTo search (a place).
“Furniture was tipped over and drawers pulled out. Someone had obviously frisked the joint before we arrived.”
Formsfrisks(plural) · frisks(present, singular, third-person) · frisking(participle, present) · frisked(participle, past) · frisked(past) · Frisks(plural)
Source: Wiktionary