Other forms: frisked, frisking, frisks
To frisk is to run the hands over somebody in search of weapons. Frisk the suspect, get frisked, a quick frisk.
In several countries the power to stop and frisk without suspicion has been fought over in the courts, because the figures showed it fell far more heavily on some groups than others. The older sense of the word is to skip about playfully, which is where frisky comes from.
1verbfriskTo run the hands over somebody in search of weapons.
“Security guards frisked every fan at the stadium gates.”
frisk is a searching.
Middle French frisque means lively or blithe, of Germanic origin. The search sense came from the quick patting motion.
Proto-Germanic
*friskaz — fresh
Old High German
frisc — fresh
Middle Dutch
frisc — fresh
Middle French
frisque — lively, jolly, blithe, fine, spruce, gay
Middle English
frisk — lively, frisky
English, today
frisk
From Middle English frisk (“lively, frisky”), from Middle French frisque (“lively, jolly, blithe, fine, spruce, gay”), of gem origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch frisc (“fresh”) or Old High German frisc (“fresh”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic friskaz (“fresh”). Cognate with Icelandic frískur (“frisky, fresh”). a doublet of fresco and fresh. More at fresh. Alternative etymology derives frisk from an alteration (due to Old French fresche (“fresh”)) of Old French fricque, frique (“smart, strong, playful, bright”), from Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌺𐍃 (“greedy, hungry”), from Proto-Germanic frekaz, frakaz (“greedy, active”), from Proto-Indo-European preg- (“greedy, fierce”). Cognate with Middle Dutch vrec (“greedy, avaricious”), German frech (“insolent”), Old English frec (“greedy, eager, bold, daring, dangerous”). More at freak.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA