Freeze

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfɹiːz/

Definitions

1. To become hardened into ice as a result of cold temperatures ; to stop moving or operating suddenly ; to preserve by chilling to prevent decay
2. To turn liquid into solid ice due to cold ; to halt activity or progress abruptly ; to maintain something at a constant chilled state for preservation
3. To chill below the freezing point causing solidification ; to bring to a sudden standstill in motion or process ; to keep in a cold condition to extend freshness or durability

Etymology: Old English "frēosan" was a verb meaning "to freeze," and it sits in a family of words that point to a much older idea of sprinkling and spraying. The Proto-Indo-European root "*prews-" meant "to freeze; frost," and its cousins in other languages show the same tangle of meanings. Latin "pruīna" meant hoarfrost or rime, while Russian "prýskatʹ" and Polish "pryskać" mean to spray or sprinkle, and Sanskrit "pruṣṇoti" means to moisten or shower. Frost and sprinkling were evidently close enough in ancient speech to share a root. The English verb reached its modern form through Middle English "fresen," which came from the Old English verb. Its relatives across Germanic are numerous: Dutch "vriezen," German "frieren," and Swedish "frysa" all mean the same thing, and the Celtic languages (Welsh "rhew," Irish "reo") preserve the same root for frost and ice. The noun is a deverbal formation, made directly from the verb. The sense of a sudden cold snap or a period of fixed prices and wages developed from the verb's central meaning of turning liquid into ice.

Synonyms: solidify, congeal, ice, halt, stop

Antonyms: melt, thaw, liquefy, warm, unfreeze