German, Dutch, Jewish (from the Netherlands), Danish, and Swedish: 1. ethnic name for someone from Friesland. The name of this region is ancient and of uncertain origin; the most plausible speculation derives it from an Indo-European root prei- ‘to cut’, with reference to the dikes necessary for the cultivation of low-lying land. There is archaeological evidence of the construction of ditches and dams along the southern shores of the North Sea from at least the time of Christ. 2. occupational name for a builder of dams and dikes. The word was used in this sense in various parts of Germany during the Middle Ages, and is probably a transferred use of the ethnic term, dike building being a characteristic occupation of Frieslanders. 3. diminutive of Friedrich.
