/fɹɒk/, /fɹɑk/
OriginFrom Middle English frok, frokke, from Old French froc (“frock, a monk's gown or habit”), perhaps via Medieval Latin hrocus, roccus, rocus (“a coat”), from Frankish *hrokk (“skirt, dress, robe”), from Proto-Germanic *hrukkaz (“robe, jacket, skirt, tunic”), from Proto-Indo-European *kreḱ- (“to weave”).
Cognate with Old High German hroch, roch (“skirt, dress, cowl”) – whence German Rock (“skirt, coat”) –, Saterland Frisian Rok (“skirt”), Dutch rok (“skirt, petticoat”), Old English rocc (“an overgarment, tunic, rochet”), Old Norse rokkr (“skirt, jacket”), whence Danish rok (“garment”).
- A dress, a piece of clothing, which consists of a skirt and a cover for the upper body.
- An outer garment worn by priests and other clericals; a habit.
- A sailor's jersey.
- An undress regimental coat.
- dialectalA frog.
- transitiveTo clothe (somebody) in a frock.
“[…] Mrs. Parmly-Coles, in thus frocking her daughter, was no jealous cat but a pearl among mothers.”
- transitiveTo make (somebody) a cleric.
- US, transitiveTo grant to an officer the title and uniform of a rank he will soon be promoted to.
“MajGen Richard G. Schulze […] was selected for two-star rank by members of the January selection board. He was frocked on 27 Jan and assigned new duties as CG, MCRD, San Diego.”
Formsfrocks(plural) · frocks(present, singular, third-person) · frocking(participle, present) · frocked(participle, past) · frocked(past) · Frocks(plural)