Freeze
/friːz/noun
To become or cause to become solid or rigid because of cold.
Did you know?Freeze descends from Proto-Indo-European *preus-* (“to freeze, to burn”), a root that also gave English frost, showing how old language often linked extreme cold with a kind of biting, painful force.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*preus-
“to freeze; to burn, to be hot”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*freusaną
“to freeze”
Old English
OE
frēosan
“to freeze, become frozen”
Middle English
ME
fresen / freesen
“to freeze”
Modern English
English
freeze
“to become or cause to become solid because of cold”
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