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fretless

 [fret]   Origin

fret

2   [fret] noun, verb, fret·ted, fret·ting.
noun
1.
an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.
2.
an angular design of bands within a border.
3.
Heraldry. a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.
4.
a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.
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Ad
verb (used with object)
5.
to ornament with a fret or fretwork.

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Fretless is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English frette < ?; compare Middle French frete trellis-work, Old English fretwian, variant of frætwian to adorn

Related forms
fret·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged

fret

3   [fret] noun, verb, fret·ted, fret·ting.
noun
1.
any of the ridges of wood, metal, or string, set across the fingerboard of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument, which help the fingers to stop the strings at the correct points.
verb (used with object)
2.
to provide with frets.
Origin:
1490–1500; origin uncertain

Related forms
fret·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To fretless
Collins
World English Dictionary
fret2 (frɛt)
 
—n
1.  a repetitive geometrical figure, esp one used as an ornamental border
2.  such a pattern made in relief and with numerous small openings; fretwork
3.  heraldry a charge on a shield consisting of a mascle crossed by a saltire
 
—vb , frets, fretting, fretted
4.  (tr) to ornament with fret or fretwork
 
[C14: from Old French frete interlaced design used on a shield, probably of Germanic origin]
 
'fretless2
 
—adj

fret3 (frɛt)
 
—n
any of several small metal bars set across the fingerboard of a musical instrument of the lute, guitar, or viol family at various points along its length so as to produce the desired notes when the strings are stopped by the fingers
 
[C16: of unknown origin]
 
'fretless3
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fret
"ornamental interlaced pattern," late 14c., from O.Fr. frete "interlaced work, trellis work," probably from Frank. *fetur (cf. O.E. fetor, O.H.G. feggara "fetter") perhaps from notion of "decorative anklet," or of materials "bound" together. The other noun, "ridge on the fingerboard of a guitar," is
EXPAND
c.1500 of unknown origin but possibly another sense of O.Fr. frete.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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