Wiktionary

frame

See also: Frame

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English framen, fremen, fremmen (“to construct, build, strengthen, refresh, perform, execute, profit, avail”), from Old English framian, fremian, fremman (“to profit, avail, advance”), from Proto-West Germanic *frammjan, from Proto-Germanic *framjaną (“to further, promote, perform”), from Proto-Indo-European *promo- (“front, forward”).

Cognate with Low German framen (“to commit, effect”), Danish fremme (“to promote, further, perform”), Swedish främja (“to promote, encourage, foster”), Icelandic fremja (“to commit”). More at from.

Verb

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frame (third-person singular simple present frames, present participle framing, simple past and past participle framed)

  1. (transitive) To fit, as for a specific end or purpose; make suitable or comfortable; adapt; adjust.
  2. (transitive) To construct by fitting together or uniting various parts; fabricate by union of constituent parts.
  3. (transitive) To bring or put into form or order; adjust the parts or elements of; compose; contrive; plan; devise.
    • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
      He began to frame the loveliest countenance he could.
    • 1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:
      How many excellent reasonings are framed in the mind of a man of wisdom and study in a length of years.
    • 2016 February 20, “Obituary: Antonin Scalia: Always right”, in The Economist‎[1]:
      As for America’s constitution, speaking as the court’s originalist-in-chief, all that mattered was what its words meant when it was framed.
  4. (transitive) To put together the structural elements of (a constructed object such as a building).
    Once we finish framing the house, we'll hang tin on the roof.
  5. (transitive) To place (a picture such as a painting or photograph) inside a decorative border.
  6. (transitive) To position visually within a fixed boundary.
    The director frames the fishing scene very well.
    Round glasses would frame your face perfectly.
    • 2026 May, Ingrid Abramovitch, “Big Easy Does It”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 22:
      In the dining room, Savonarola chairs frame a burlwood table, while in the primary bedroom, flea-market art mingles with a Chinese Art Deco rug.
  7. (transitive) To construct in words so as to establish a context for understanding or interpretation.
    How would you frame your accomplishments?
    The way the opposition has framed the argument makes it hard for us to win.
    They have framed this sentencing bill as not caring about victims; we have to frame it as preventing government overreach.
  8. (transitive, criminology) Conspire to falsely incriminate an innocent person.
    Synonyms: frame up, put up, set up
    The gun had obviously been placed in her car in an effort to frame her.
  9. (intransitive, dialectal, mining) To wash ore with the aid of a frame.
  10. (intransitive, dialectal) To move.
  11. (intransitive, obsolete) To proceed; to go.
  12. (tennis) To hit (the ball) with the frame of the racquet rather than the strings (normally a mishit).
  13. (transitive, obsolete) To strengthen; refresh; support.
  14. (transitive, obsolete) To execute; perform.
    All have sworn him an oath that they should frame his will on earth.
  15. (transitive, obsolete) To cause; to bring about; to produce.
  16. (intransitive, obsolete) To profit; avail.
  17. (intransitive, obsolete) To fit; accord.
    • 1531, William Tyndale, An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue:
      When thou hast turned them all ways, and done thy best to hew them and to make them frame, thou must be fain to cast them out.
  18. (intransitive, obsolete) To succeed in doing or trying to do something; manage.
Synonyms
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  • (conspire to incriminate): fit up
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → Dutch: framen
  • → German: framen
Translations
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Etymology 2

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    From Middle English frame (“profit, benefit, advantage; a structure composed according to a plan”), from the verb (above) and also from Old Norse frami (“advantage, fame, bravery, efficiency, privilege, honor”); and frame (“a framework or structure of any kind”) which is of uncertain origin. The latter is usually regarded as a derivative of former; however, compare the rare Anglo-Norman and Old French frame, fraine (“frame, framework”), itself of uncertain origin, which might be a borrowing from the English, from the Norse, or even possibly ultimately from Frankish *hramu (“frame”) related to Dutch raam (“window frame”).

    Noun

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    A picture frame.
     
    A bicycle frame (diamond frame).

    frame (plural frames)

    1. The structural elements of a building or other constructed object.
      Now that the frame is complete, we can start on the walls.
    2. Anything composed of parts fitted and united together; a fabric; a structure.
      • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene ii:
        The chiefeſt God firſt moouer of that Spheare,
        Enchac’d with thouſands euer ſhining lamps,
        Will ſooner burne the glorious frame of Heauen,
        Then ſhould it ſo conſpire my ouerthrow.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
        These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, / Almighty! thine this universal frame.
    4. A human body or the structure thereof; the size, shape, sturdiness etc. of a person's body as described in a certain way; one's build.
      Synonym: carriage
      His starved flesh hung loosely on his once imposing frame.
    5. A rigid, generally rectangular mounting for paper, canvas or other flexible material.
      • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
        He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
      The painting was housed in a beautifully carved frame.
    6. A piece of photographic film containing an image.
      • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift
        If the audience had a nickel for every time a character on one side of the frame says something could never happen as it simultaneously happens on the other side of the frame, they’d have enough to pay the surcharge for the movie’s badly implemented 3-D.
      A film projector shows many frames in a single second.
    7. A context for understanding or interpretation.
      In this frame, it's easy to ask the question that the investigators missed.
      • 2020 May, Kelcie Ralph, Ian Girardeau, “Distracted by “distracted pedestrians”?”, in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, volume 5:
        Interests groups compete to have their preferred frames shape policy discussions.
    8. (crime) A conspiracy to falsely incriminate an innocent person.
    9. (snooker) A complete game of snooker, from break-off until all the balls (or as many as necessary to win) have been potted.
    10. (networking) An independent chunk of data sent over a network.
    11. (bowling) A set of balls whose results are added together for scoring purposes. Usually two balls, but only one ball in the case of a strike, and three balls in the case of a strike or a spare in the last frame of a game.
    12. (bowling) The complete set of pins to be knocked down in their starting configuration.
      • 1878, John Henry Walsh, British Rural Sports, page 712:
        In knockemdowns and bowls ten pins are used, the centre one being called the king, and the ball has to be grounded before it reaches the frame.
    13. (horticulture) A movable structure used for the cultivation or the sheltering of plants.
      a forcing-frame; a cucumber frame
    14. (philately) The outer decorated portion of a stamp's image, often repeated on several issues although the inner picture may change.
    15. (philately) The outer circle of a cancellation mark.
    17. (electronics, film, animation, video games) A division of time on a multimedia timeline, such as 1/30 or 1/60 of a second.
    18. (Internet) An individually scrollable region of a webpage.
    19. (baseball, slang) An inning.
    20. (engineering, dated, chiefly UK) Any of certain machines built upon or within framework.
      a stocking frame; a lace frame; a spinning frame
    21. (dated) Frame of mind; disposition.
      to be always in a happy frame
      • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter XVI, in Wuthering Heights‎[2]:
        And I partook of the infinite calm in which she lay: my mind was never in a holier frame than while I gazed on that untroubled image of Divine rest.
    22. (obsolete) Contrivance; the act of devising or scheming.
    23. (dated, video games) A stage or location in a video game.
      • 1982, Gilsoft International, Mongoose (video game instructions) [3]
        When you play the game it will draw a set pattern depending on the frame you are on, with random additions to the pattern, to give a different orchard each time.
      • 1984, "Hunchback" (video game review) in Crash (issue 2, pages 73-74)
        Hunchback looks very good, bright, cheerful and with a loud tune. I think it could have had a bit more sound during the frame though.
      • 1985, "Ashkeron!" (video game review) in Crash (issue 18, page 104)
        The first frame, funnily enough, brings just the sort of puzzle so rare in the remainder of the adventure whereby either it gets solved or you're left wandering excluded from where it's all happening.
    24. (genetics, "reading frame") A way of dividing nucleotide sequences into a set of consecutive triplets.
    25. (computing) A form of knowledge representation in artificial intelligence.
    26. (mathematics) A complete lattice in which meets distribute over arbitrary joins.
    27. (operating systems) Clipping of page frame or memory frame.
    28. (cooking) The carcass of a poultry bird with most of its flesh removed, used for making broth.
      a chicken frame
    Quotations
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    • 1696, William Stephens, An Account of the Growth of Deism in England, page 17:
      ...It regulates and governs the Passions of the Mind, and brings them into due moderation and frame...
    Derived terms
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    Descendants
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    Translations
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    structure of a person's body
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Anagrams

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    Dutch

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    Etymology 1

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    Borrowed from English frame.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    frame n (plural frames, diminutive framepje n)

    1. (snooker) frame
    2. (construction) frame
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    Etymology 2

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    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Pronunciation

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    • (1st and 2nd person singular, imperative)
    • (subjunctive)

    Verb

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    frame

    1. inflection of framen:
      1. first-person singular present indicative
      2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
      3. imperative
      4. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive

    Anagrams

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    German

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    Verb

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    frame

    1. inflection of framen:
      1. first-person singular present
      2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
      3. singular imperative

    Portuguese

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    Etymology

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      Unadapted borrowing from English frame.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      frame m (plural frames)

      1. (networking) frame (independent chunk of data)
      2. (Internet) frame (individually scrollable region of a webpage)
      3. frame (individual image emitted by a projector or monitor)

      Further reading

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