Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: <1700, 1700, 1789, 1870-1892
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FREET, v. Also freat, freit, friet. Sc. forms of Eng. fret, †to eat into, corrode; to chafe (Fif. 1953). Vbl.n. freeting, discontent, vexation. Ppl.adj. †freitten, fretten, seamed, pitted, deeply marked, as in comb. pock-freitten, pitted by small-pox (Sc. 1887 Jam.). [fri:t]Sc. 1684 Narr. of James Nimmo (S.H.S.) 57:
Which in a litle begot some confusion in my minde, so that several times, there arose secret freetings and quarrelings.Ayr. 1789 Burns Five Carlins xx.:
For fools will freat o' right or wrang, while knaves laugh them to scorn. [The version given in Lockhart's Life viii.]Ags. c.1870 in Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) IX. 406:
My son sleeps in Egypt — It's nae ease to freit — An' yet when I think o't I'm sair like to greet.Hdg. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 149:
If . . . something of the general heat In his thaw'd breast begin to friet!
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"Freet v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Aug 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/freet_v>
