frit
/fɹɪt/
frit noun: a pre-fused ceramic mixture used to make glass and glazes.
Noun (1)
frit (countable and uncountable, plural frits)
- A pre-fused ceramic mixture used to make glass and glazes.
- Such material used in the manufacture of ceramic beads and small ornaments. (eastern Mediterranean; Bronze and Iron Age)
- Such material that is resistant to melting and used to physically support objects in a crucible.
- A material, whether ceramic, plastic or some other material, that is used for support in chemical apparatus.
- Any of many black enamel dots baked in a graded pattern onto the glass around the edge of a windshield.
- Made from ceramic paint baked directly into the glass, frits help bond the windscreen to the vehicle by providing a textured surface for adhesives and shielding them from damaging UV rays.2025 May 6, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Fact Frenzy on X
Verb
frit (third-person singular simple present frits, present participle fritting, simple past and past participle fritted)
- To add frit to a glass or ceramic mixture
- To prepare by heat (the materials for making glass); to fuse partially.
- equal parts of the calcined and roasted ore, of ground flints and potash, are fritted together and then fused1831, Benjamin Silliman, Elements of Chemistry
Adjective
frit (comparative more frit, superlative most frit)
- Frightened.
- The right hon. Gentleman is afraid of an election, is he? Afraid? Frightened? Frit? Could not take it? Cannot stand it? If I were going to cut and run, I should have gone after the Falklands.1983 Margaret Thatcher, Prime minister's questions, 19 April
- “We shoulder life. We know its ins and outs. We've felt the draught at either end of it. What you're most frit of, that's our bread and jam, and none of us ain't got no time to spare on ignorant, bad-mannered little boys.”2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, published 2016, page 272
Noun (2)
frit (plural frits)
- A politician who does not perform some action (for example answering a question or calling a vote) out of fear of losing.
- Why are you not going to bother? You are scared? You are a frit? Is that the problem?2022, Peter Fortune, “Impact of ULEZ expansion and road charging (Supplementary)”, in Questions to the Mayor (London Assembly)
Noun (3)
frit (plural frits)
- A frit fly.
frit meaning in Tamil
frit in Tamil
- வறுவை
Forms of frit
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | frits |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | frits |
| present participle | fritting |
| past participle | fritted |
| past | fritted |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more frit |
| superlative | most frit |
Origin of frit
Either from French fritte, from frit (“fried”), or else from Italian fritta f (“fried”).
Dialectal past participle of fright (“frighten”), formed on the model of bite:bit and light:lit. Compare the parallel formation fit (“fought”). By the late 20th century, largely confined to the Lincolnshire dialect, but adopted into political slang in the 1980s from the speeches of Grantham-born Margaret Thatcher.
Words formed from frit
Phrases with frit
Words that rhyme with frit
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about frit
- What does frit mean?
- Frit means a pre-fused ceramic mixture used to make glass and glazes.
- What is frit in Tamil?
- Frit in Tamil is வறுவை. See Frit meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is frit?
- Frit can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce frit?
- Frit is pronounced /fɹɪt/.
- What is the plural of frit?
- The plural of frit is frits.
Words near frit in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: frit (page history and authors); frit (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-frit.wav.
Cite this entry: “frit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/frit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.