joy; e.g. Freudenthal (the valley of joy); Freudenstadt (the town of joy).
FRIDE,
a hedge, from the Old Ger. word vride—akin to the Gael. fridh, and the Welsh fridd (a wood); e.g. Burgfried (the hedge of the fortress); Friedberg, anc. Vriduperg (a fortress surrounded by a hedge); but Friedland, in East Prussia, Grk. Irenopyrgos (the tower of peace), is from friede, Ger. peace. The prefix fried is also sometimes a contraction for Frederick—thus Friedburg may mean Frederick’s town.
FRITH, or FIRTH,
the navigable estuary of a river, akin to fiord and the Lat. fretum, a channel; e.g. the Firths of Forth, Tay, and Clyde; the Solway Firth. This word Solway has had various derivations assigned to it: one derivation is from the Selgovæ, a tribe; Ferguson suggests the Old Norse word sulla, Eng. sully, from its turbid waters, particularly as it was called in Leland’s Itinera Sulway. I would suggest the A.S. sol (mire), as this channel is a miry slough at low tide, and can be crossed on foot; Pentland Firth, corrupt. from Petland Fiord (the bay between the land of the Picts and the Orkneys).
FROU, FRAU (Ger.),
lord and lady; e.g. Froustalla (the lord or nobleman’s stall); Frousthorp (the nobleman’s farm); Fraubrunnen (our lady’s well); Frauenberg, Frauenburg, Fraustadt (our lady’s town); Frauenkirchen (our lady’s church); Frauenfeld (our lady’s field).
FUL (A.S.),
dirty; e.g. Fulbeck, Fulbrook (dirty stream); Fulneck or Fullanig (dirty water); Fulham or Fullenham (either the dwelling on the miry place or, according to another derivation, from fügel, a bird).
FÜRED (Hung.),