Fracht
/frækt/noun
An obsolete English spelling of freight, meaning goods transported for payment.
Did you know?Fracht is chiefly a German word today, while its obsolete English form preserves the same medieval commercial root that produced freight and fraught.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*frahtiz
“Cargo or freight; a reconstructed Germanic term connected with transport and carriage”
Old High German
Old High German
fraht
“Freight or the cost of transporting goods”
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
vracht
“Goods carried or the payment charged for their carriage”
Middle English
Middle English
fracht
“Freight; transported merchandise, recorded as a variant spelling”
15th–16th Century
English
freight
“Goods carried by ship, or the charge for carrying them”
Modern English
English
fracht
“An obsolete or dialectal spelling of freight”