Frisian

[ frizh-uhn, free-zhuhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Friesland, its inhabitants, or their language.

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Friesland or the Frisian Islands.
2. the Germanic language most closely related to English, spoken in Friesland and nearby islands. : Fris., Fris
3. Chiefly British.
   1. Friesland.
   2. Holstein ( def 1 ).

Frisian

/ ˈfrɪʒən /

noun

1. a language spoken in the NW Netherlands, parts of N Germany, and adjacent islands, belonging to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family: the nearest relative of the English language; it has three main dialects
2. a native or inhabitant of Friesland or a speaker of the Frisian language

adjective

1. 1. of or relating to the Frisian language or its speakers
   2. of or relating to Friesland or its peoples and culture

Word History and Origins

Origin of Frisian¹

1590–1600; < Latin Frisi ( ī ) the people of a Germanic tribe + -an

Word History and Origins

Origin of Frisian¹

C16: from Latin Frīsiī people of northern Germany

Example Sentences

It will also allow the use of traditional patronymic and matronymic names used by the Frisian minority, which entail children’s surnames being based on their father’s or mother’s first name.

From Seattle Times

Frisian locals, he says, are less likely to succumb to over-optimism than their neighbours in the rest of the Netherlands.

From BBC

The Coast Guard said the ship, which had just left the German port of Bremerhaven, was about 17 miles north of Ameland, one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands.

From New York Times

Some, like Catalan, are spoken by millions of people, yet others, like North Frisian, native to northern Germany, have just a few thousand speakers left and are at risk of extinction, according to UNESCO.

From New York Times

She was raised in Oldenburg, near Bremen, and on Wangerooge, one of the Frisian Islands in the North Sea, where her father had obtained a remote church posting amid tensions with the Nazi authorities.

From Washington Post