Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of one of the Germanic tribes of the Rhine region in the early Christian era, especially one of the Salian Franks who conquered Gaul about AD 500 and established an extensive empire that reached its greatest power in the ninth century.
  • Robert,Swiss-born American photographer and filmmaker noted for his clear-cut documentary style and interest in popular culture.
  • Anne,German Jewish diarist who fled from Nazi Germany to Amsterdam with her family (1934) and kept a diary during her years in hiding (1942–1944). She and her family were captured (August 1944) and sent to concentration camps. Anne died of typhus in the camp at Belsen. Her diary was published in 1947.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One of the Franks, a Germanic federation that inhabited parts of what are now France, the Low Countries and Germany.
  • proper noun A male given name.
  • proper noun A surname.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English Franca and Old French Franc, both from Late Latin Francus, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English Frank, partially from Old English Franca ("a Frank"); and partially from Old French franc, and/or Latin Francus ("A Frank"), from Frankish *Franko (“a Frank”); both from Proto-Germanic *frankô (“javelin”). Cognate with Old High German Franko ("a Frank"), Old English franca ("spear, javelin"). Compare Saxon, ultimately a derivative of Proto-Germanic *sahsan (“knife, dagger”).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Originally derived from the medieval tribal name, revived in the 19th century and also used as a diminutive of Francis.

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