Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Frame in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels frame as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Frame

[OE. framen, fremen, to execute, build, AS. fremman to further, perform, effect, fr. fram strong, valiant; akin to E. foremost, and prob. to AS. fram from, Icel. fremja, frama, to further, framr forward, G. fromm worthy, excellent, pious. See Foremost, From, and cf. Furnish.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordframe
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OE. framen, fremen, to execute, build, AS. fremman to further, perform, effect, fr. fram strong, valiant; akin to E. foremost, and prob. to AS. fram from, Icel. fremja, frama, to further, framr forward, G. fromm worthy, excellent, pious. See Foremost, From, and cf. Furnish.]
Selected historical definitionTo construct by fitting and uniting the several parts of the skeleton of any structure; specifically, in woodwork, to put together by cutting parts of one member to fit parts of another. See Dovetail, Halve, v. t., Miter, Tenon, Tooth, Tusk, Scarf, and Splice.
Signed record IDwebster1913-frame-verb-41f6c83573d6
Source locatorCIDE.F, paragraph 8280; Gutenberg eBook 663
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 663Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "frame" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. framen, fremen, to execute, build, AS. fremman to further, perform, effect, fr. fram strong, valiant; akin to E. foremost, and prob. to AS. fram from, Icel. fremja, frama, to further, framr forward, G. fromm worthy, excellent, pious. See Foremost, From, and cf. Furnish.]" The selected historical definition says: "To construct by fitting and uniting the several parts of the skeleton of any structure; specifically, in woodwork, to put together by cutting parts of one member to fit parts of another. See Dovetail, Halve, v. t., Miter, Tenon, Tooth, Tusk, Scarf, and Splice."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

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Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

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Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Final

[F., fr. L. finalis, fr. finis boundary, limit, end. See Finish.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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