frolic

frolic

English

WOTD – 2 October 2007

Alternative forms

• frolick

Etymology

From Dutch vrolijk (“cheerful”), from Middle Dutch vrolijc, from Old Dutch frōlīk, from Proto-Germanic *frawalīkaz. Compare German fröhlich (“blitheful, gaily, happy, merry”).

The first element, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *frawaz, is cognate with Middle English frow (“hasty”); the latter element, ultimately from *-līkaz, is cognate with -ly, -like.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɒlɪk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɑlɪk/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɒlɪk
• Hyphenation: frol‧ic

Adjective

frolic (comparative more frolic, superlative most frolic)

1. (now rare) Merry, joyous, full of mirth; later especially, frolicsome, sportive, full of playful mischief. [from 1530s]
   • 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro” in Poems, London: Humphrey Moseley, p. 31,

     The frolick wind that breathes the Spring,

     Zephyr with Aurora playing,

     As he met her once a Maying

     There on Beds of Violets blew,

   • 1682, Edmund Waller, “Of Love” in Poems, &c. written upon several occasions, and to several persons, London: H. Herringman, 5th edition, 1686, p. 73,

     For women, born to be controul’d,

     Stoop to the forward and the bold,

     Affect the haughty and the proud,

     The gay, the frollick, and the loud.

   • 1766, Joseph Addison, The Spectator - Volume 5 - Page 304:

     You meet him at the tables and conversations of the wise, the impertinent, the grave, the frolic, and the witty; [...]

   • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:

     Beale, under this frolic menace, took nothing back at all; he was indeed apparently on the point of repeating his extravagence, but Miss Overmore instructed her little charge that she was not to listen to his bad jokes [...].

2. (obsolete, rare) Free; liberal; bountiful; generous.

Verb

frolic (third-person singular simple present frolics, present participle frolicking, simple past and past participle frolicked)

1. (intransitive) To make merry; to have fun; to romp; to behave playfully and uninhibitedly. [from 1580s]

   We saw the lambs frolicking in the meadow.

2. (transitive, archaic) To cause to be merry.

Conjugation

Conjugation of frolic

infinitive	(to) frolic
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	frolic	frolicked
2nd-person singular
3rd-person singular	frolics
plural	frolic
subjunctive	frolic	frolicked
imperative	frolic	—
participles	frolicking	frolicked

Derived terms

• rollick

Translations

behave playfully and uninhibitedly

Bulgarian: лудувам (bg) (luduvam) Catalan: enjogassar-se (ca) Cherokee: ᎠᏁᏦᏍᎦ (anetsosga) Chinese: Cantonese: 嬉戲／嬉戏,嬉戏 (hei1 hei3) Mandarin: 嫐 (zh) (nǎo), 嬉戲／嬉戏 (zh) (xīxì) Min Nan: 嬉戲／嬉戏, 嬉戏 (hi-hì) Dutch: plezier maken, dollen (nl), pret maken, keten (nl), rollebollen (nl), dartelen (nl) Esperanto: gaji Estonian: vallatlema Finnish: temmeltää (fi), kisailla (fi), ilotella (fi), karkeloida French: folâtrer (fr), gambader (fr) Galician: troulear (gl) Georgian: მხიარულობს (mxiarulobs), ნავარდობს (navardobs), ცელქობს (celkobs), ანცობს (ancobs), ციგლიგებს (cigligebs) German: scherzen (de) Greek: Ancient: σκιρτάω (skirtáō) Italian: scherzare (it) Japanese: 浮かれ騒ぐ (うかれさわぐ, ukare sawagu) Maori: pepe, tākarokaro, pūhoru (in water), tuapa, tākarokaro Polish: baraszkować (pl), dokazywać (pl), figlować (pl), swawolić (pl) Portuguese: retouçar (pt) Russian: резви́ться (ru) (rezvítʹsja), прока́зничать (ru) (prokázničatʹ) Slovak: hrať sa Spanish: juguetear (es), retozar (es) Swedish: leka (sv)

Noun

frolic (plural frolics)

1. Gaiety; merriment. [from 1610s]
   • 1876, Louisa May Alcott, "The King of Clubs and the Queen of Hearts" in Hallberger's Illustrated Magazine: 1876

     the annual jubilee […] filled the souls of old and young with visions of splendour, frolic and fun.

   • 2012 (original 1860), Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun - Page 276:

     By the old-fashioned magnificence of this procession, it might worthily have included his Holiness in person, with a suite of attendant Cardinals, if those sacred dignitaries would kindly have lent their aid to heighten the frolic of the Carnival.

2. A playful antic.
   • 1680, James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon, Art of Poetry

     He would be at his frolic once again.

3. (obsolete, chiefly US) A social gathering.
   • 1820, Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:

     He came clattering up to the school door with an invitation to Ichabod to attend a merry-making or “quilting frolic,” to be held that evening at Mynheer Van Tassel’s

Derived terms

• milling frolic

Translations

gaiety; merriment

Bulgarian: веселие (bg) n (veselie), веселба (bg) f (veselba) Galician: troula (gl) f Italian: burla (it) f, beffa (it) f, allegria (it) f, gaiezza (it) f Portuguese: festejo (pt) m Russian: весе́лье (ru) n (vesélʹje) Spanish: jugueteo (es) m

playful antic

Bulgarian: лудория (bg) f (ludorija) Estonian: vallatlemine Finnish: temmellys (fi), kisailu (fi) Galician: troula (gl) f German: Scherz (de) m Italian: buffonata (it) f Maori: tuapa Portuguese: gracejo (pt) m Spanish: juguetear (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Japanese: (please verify) お祭り騒ぎ (おまつりさわぎ, omatsuri sawagi)

See also

• cavort

Related terms

• frolicsome

References

• “frolic”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.