Frank

See also: frank and frånk

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: frăngk, IPA^(key): /fɹæŋk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋk
• Homophones: frank, franc

Etymology 1

From Middle English Frank, partially from Old English Franca (“a Frank”); and partially from Old French Franc, and/or Latin Francus (“a Frank”), from Frankish *Franko (“a Frank”); both maybe from Proto-Germanic *frankô (“javelin”). Cognate with Old High German Franko (“a Frank”), Old English franca (“spear, javelin”). Compare Saxon, ultimately a derivative of Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“knife, dagger”). Doublet of franc, frank, and farang.

Noun

Frank (plural Franks)

1. One of the Franks, a Germanic federation that inhabited parts of what are now France, the Low Countries and Germany.

Derived terms

• Frankish
• Frankland

Related terms

• ferenghi
• franc
• France
• French
• Frenchify
• franchise
• Francia
• francisation, francization
• francise, francize (in Quebec; Oxford dictionary: [1])

Translations

one of the Franks

• Albanian: frëng (sq) m, frâng m
• Arabic: إِفْرَنْجِيّ m (ʔifranjiyy)
• Armenian: ֆրանկ (hy) (frank)
• Bengali: ফ্রাংক (phraṅko)
• Catalan: franc (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 法蘭克人／法兰克人 (fǎlánkèrén)

• Danish: franker c
• Dutch: Frank (nl) m or f
• Finnish: frankki (fi)
• French: Franc (fr) m, Franque (fr) f
• Galician: franco (gl) m
• Georgian: ფრანკი (pranḳi)
• German: Franke (de) m, Fränkin (de) f
• Greek: Φράγκος (el) m (Frágkos)

  Ancient: Φράγγος m (Phrángos)

• Icelandic: franki (is) m
• Irish: Franc m
• Japanese: フランク人 (フランクじん, furanku-jin)
• Korean: 프랑크인 (peurangkeu'in)
• Latin: Francus (la) m
• Marathi: फ्रँक m (phrĕṅka)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: franker m

  Nynorsk: frankar m

• Portuguese: franco (pt) m
• Russian: франк (ru) (frank)
• Sanskrit: फिरङ्गिन् (sa) m (phiraṅgin)
• Spanish: franco (es) m
• Swedish: frank (sv) c
• Turkish: Frenk (tr)
• Welsh: Ffranc m

Etymology 2

The surname derives from the medieval tribal name. The given name is also a form of Francis, with formal given name status since the 19th century.

Proper noun

Frank

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     Mrs. Ford. How now, sweet Frank! why art thou melancholy?

2. A diminutive of the male given name Francis
   • 1996, Frank McCourt, chapter VII, in Angela's Ashes, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 197:

     Your name is Francis, is it?
     Frank, sir.
     Your name is Francis. There was never a St. Frank. That's a name for gangsters and politicians.

3. A surname transferred from the nickname.

Translations

male given name

• Arabic: فْرَنْك m (frank)
• Armenian: ֆրանկ (hy) (frank)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弗蘭克／弗兰克 (zh) (Fúlánkè)

• Danish: Frank c
• Dutch: Frank (nl) m
• French: Franck (fr) m, Frank (fr) m, François (fr) m
• Galician: Franco m
• Georgian: ფრენკი (prenḳi), ფრანკი (pranḳi)
• German: Frank (de) m
• Greek: Φρανκ (el) m (Frank)
• Hawaiian: Palani
• Hebrew: פְרַנְק (he) (frank)
• Icelandic: Frank (is) m
• Italian: Franco (it)
• Japanese: フランク (ja) (Furanku)
• Korean: 프랭크 (Peuraengkeu), 프랑크 (Peurangkeu)
• Manx: Frank m
• Marathi: फ्रँक m (phrĕṅka)
• Norwegian: Frank (no)
• Persian: فرانک (fa) (ferânk)
• Portuguese: Franco m, Frank m
• Russian: Франк (ru) m (Frank), Фрэнк (ru) m (Frɛnk) (transliteration)
• Spanish: Franco (es)
• Swedish: Frank (sv) c
• Thai: ฟรังค์ (frang)

diminutive

• Cebuano: Prangkoy

surname

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弗蘭克／弗兰克 (zh) (Fúlánkè)

• Galician: Franco m
• Marathi: फ्रँक (phrĕṅka)
• Yiddish: פֿראַנק (frank)

Danish

Proper noun

Frank

1. a male given name borrowed from English and German

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /frɑŋk/
• Hyphenation: Frank
• Rhymes: -ɑŋk

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch vranke, from Old Dutch franko, from Frankish *frankō.

Noun

Frank m (plural Franken)

1. (historical, chiefly plural) Frank (member of a Migration-Period Germanic tribe)

Derived terms

• Frankisch
• Frankrijk

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Frank m

1. a male given name from Dutch, Frank

Faroese

Proper noun

Frank m

1. a male given name

Usage notes

• son of Frank: Franksson
• daughter of Frank: Franksdóttir

Declension

	Singular
	Indefinite
Nominative	Frank
Accusative	Frank
Dative	Franki
Genitive	Franks

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁɑ̃k/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Frank m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Frank

Usage notes

• More often spelled Franck

German

Etymology

From Middle High German Franke, from Old High German Franko (“a Frank”). Used in the Middle Ages and revived in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋk

Proper noun

Frank m (proper noun, strong, genitive Franks or (with an article) Frank, plural Franks or Frank or Franke)

1. a male given name, popular especially in the 1960s and 70s

Proper noun

Frank m or f (proper noun, strong, genitive Franks or (with an article) Frank, plural Franks or Frank)

1. a surname

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fraŋ̊k/
• Rhymes: -aŋ̊k

Proper noun

Frank m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Frank

Declension

Declension of Frank
m-s1	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Frank
accusative	Frank
dative	Frank
genitive	Franks

Manx

Etymology 1

From Latin Francia, from Francus (“Frank”).

Proper noun

yn Rank f (genitive ny Frank)

1. France

   Haink eh noal ass yn Rank.

   He came over from France.

   Hooar eh baase 'sy Rank.

   He got killed in France.

   Ren ad troailt 'sy Rank as ayns yn Spaainey ny yei shen.

   They travelled in France and then in Spain.

   T'eh ceau yn geurey ayns jiass ny Frank.

   He winters in the south of France.

Usage notes

• Always preceded by the definite article.

Related terms

• Frangagh
• Frangish

Etymology 2

From Latin Francus (“Frank”).

Proper noun

Frank m

1. a male given name from Latin, equivalent to English Francis

   Coordinate term: Frangaid

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
Frank	Rank	Vrank
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Norwegian

Etymology

From English or, rarely, English Frank, in the 19th century.

Proper noun

Frank

1. a male given name

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [2] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 10 272 males with the given name Frank living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on April 29th, 2011.

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Francus, from Frankish *Frank. Doublet of frank.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfraŋk/
• Rhymes: -aŋk
• Syllabification: Frank
• Homophone: frank

Noun

Frank m pers

1. (historical) Frank (one of the Franks)

Declension

Declension of Frank

	singular	plural
nominative	Frank	Frankowie
genitive	Franka	Franków
dative	Frankowi	Frankom
accusative	Franka	Franków
instrumental	Frankiem	Frankami
locative	Franku	Frankach
vocative	Franku	Frankowie

Derived terms

adjective

• frankijski

 

Related terms

adjectives

• frankoński
• frankowy

 

nouns

• frank
• Frankonia
• Frankonka
• Frankończyk

 

Further reading

• Frank in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Frank in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Frank.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾɐ̃.ki/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾɐ̃.ki/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾɐ̃.ke/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾɐ̃.kɨ/

Proper noun

Frank m

1. a male given name from English, equivalent to English Frank

Related terms

• Franco

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [frank]

Proper noun

Frank m pers (female equivalent Franková)

1. a male surname

Further reading

• “Frank”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Frank c (genitive Franks)

1. a male given name borrowed from English or, rarely, from German