different between frank vs bald

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?æ?k/
• Rhymes: -æ?k
• Homophones: franc, Frank

Etymology 1

Middle English, from Old French franc (“free”), in turn from the name of an early Germanic confederation, the Franks.

Adjective

frank (comparative franker, superlative frankest)

1. honest, especially in a manner that seems slightly blunt; candid; not reserved or disguised.

2. (medicine) unmistakable, clinically obvious, self-evident

3. (obsolete) Unbounded by restrictions, limitations, etc.; free.

   • It is of frank gift.

4. (obsolete) Liberal; generous; profuse.
5. (obsolete, derogatory) Unrestrained; loose; licentious.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

Derived terms

• frankly

Translations

Noun

frank (plural franks)

1. (uncountable) Free postage, a right exercised by governments (usually with definite article).
   • October 5, 1780, William Cowper, letter to Rev. William Unwin

     I have said so much, that, if I had not a frank, I must burn my letter and begin again.

2. (countable) The notice on an envelope where a stamp would normally be found.

Verb

frank (third-person singular simple present franks, present participle franking, simple past and past participle franked)

1. To place a frank on an envelope.
   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 20

     It will be so ridiculous to see all his letters directed to him with an M.P.—But do you know, he says, he will never frank for me?

2. To exempt from charge for postage, as a letter, package, or packet, etc.
3. To send by public conveyance free of expense.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Charles Dickens to this entry?)

Translations

See also

• prepay

Etymology 2

Shortened form of frankfurter.

Noun

frank (plural franks)

1. A hot dog or sausage.

   Synonyms: frankfurt, frankfurter

Related terms

• cocktail frank

See also

• sav
• savaloy

Etymology 3

Noun

frank (plural franks)

1. (Britain) The grey heron.

Etymology 4

From Old French franc.

Noun

frank (plural franks)

1. A pigsty.

Verb

frank (third-person singular simple present franks, present participle franking, simple past and past participle franked)

1. To shut up in a frank or sty; to pen up; hence, to cram; to fatten.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?fra?k]
• Rhymes: -a?k

Noun

frank m

1. franc (former currency of France and some other countries)
2. franc (any of several units of currency such as Swiss franc)

Further reading

• frank in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• frank in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Alternative forms

• vrank (archaic, except in the expression vrank en vrij)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch vranc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fr??k/
• Hyphenation: frank
• Rhymes: -??k
• Homophone: Frank

Adjective

frank (comparative franker, superlative frankst)

1. frank, candid, blunt, open-hearted
2. (dated) cheeky, brazen

Inflection

Derived terms

• frank en vrij

Estonian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

frank (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

1. franc

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German franc, from Old French franc (“free”), of Germanic but eventually uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?a?k/

Adjective

frank (not comparable)

1. (archaic) frank

Usage notes

• Now almost exclusively used in the (also somewhat dated) expression frank und frei.

Declension

Further reading

• “frank” in Duden online

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /frank/

Noun

frank m anim

1. franc

Usage notes

Unqualified modern usage typically refers to the Swiss franc.

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English bald, balde, belde, ballid, balled (“bald”), of uncertain origin. Probably formed from Middle English bal, balle (“ball, round object, knoll, head”). Compare with Old Danish bældet (“bald”).

Alternate etymology has Gothic ????????????????- (bala-, “shining, grey (of body)”), Old English b?l (“fire, flame; funeral pyre”) (both from Proto-Germanic *b?l?), Albanian balë (“white spot on the forehead”) and ball (“forehead”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /b??ld/, [b???d] Non-standard: IPA^(key): /b??ld/, [b??ld]
• (US) IPA^(key): /b?ld/; (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /b?ld/
• Rhymes: -??ld
• Homophone: balled

Adjective

bald (comparative balder, superlative baldest)

1. Having no hair, fur or feathers.

   Synonym: hairless

   Antonyms: faxed, haired

   • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

     The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces.

2. (specifically) Having no hair on the head.
3. (by extension) Denuded of any covering.

4. Of tyres: whose surface is worn away.
5. (of a statement or account) Unembellished.
6. (of a statement) Without evidence or support being provided.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

bald (plural balds)

1. (Appalachia) A mountain summit or crest that lacks forest growth despite a warm climate conducive to such, as is found in many places in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Verb

bald (third-person singular simple present balds, present participle balding, simple past and past participle balded)

1. (intransitive) To become bald.

See also

• callow
• nott

Translations

Further reading

• bald on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Appalachian balds on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• ABDL, DLAB, blad

German

Etymology

From Middle High German balde, from Old High German baldo, adverb of bald, pald, from Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *b?el-. Cognate with Dutch boud, English bold.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /balt/
• Homophone: ballt

Adverb

bald (comparative eher or früher, superlative am ehesten or frühesten)

1. soon, near in time

   Synonyms: demnächst, in Kürze, zeitnah

2. almost

   Synonyms: fast, beinahe

Derived terms

• alsbald
• bis bald
• in Bälde
• sobald

Related terms

• -bold

Further reading

• “bald” in Duden online

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?ld/, [b??d]

Adjective

bald (Anglian)

1. Alternative form of beald

Declension

Old High German

Alternative forms

• pald

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz, whence also Old English bald, Old Norse ballr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bald/

Adjective

bald

1. bold, quick

Derived terms

• bald?
• baldo

Descendants

• Middle High German: balt

References

• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz, whence also Old English bald, Old Norse ballr.

Adjective

bald (comparative baldoro, superlative baldost)

1. bold, fearless

Declension

Descendants

• Middle Low German: bald, bold, balt, bolt
  • German Low German: bold, boll