frequent
[adjective free-kwuh nt; verb fri-kwent, free-kwuh nt]
- happening or occurring at short intervals: to make frequent trips to Tokyo.
- constant, habitual, or regular: a frequent guest.
- located at short distances apart: frequent towns along the shore.
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- to visit often; go often to; be often in: to frequent the art galleries.
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Origin of frequent
1400–50; late Middle English: ample, profuse < Latin frequent- (stem of frequēns) crowded; (v.) (< Middle French fréquenter) < Latin frequentāre, derivative of frequēns
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for frequent
Contemporary Examples
Think of it as a frequent buyer program for personal karma, or a spiritual band-aid.
As a major source for steel during World War II, Sheffield was a frequent target of bombing raids.
I inherited the Arnold Family Thunder ThighsTM, which was a source of frequent teasing and distress for me as a child.
It shows what the experience of any frequent flyer already demonstrates.
She married an architect and their children, Dialta as well as another daughter and two sons, were frequent guests at La Pietra.
Historical Examples
Some books were in frequent use, but others were not forgotten.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
Such a course is frequent and would not give the right of complaint to anybody.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
The soliloquy and aside are evidently not so frequent in New Comedy.
The Dramatic Values in PlautusWilton Wallace Blancke
Circumstances brought him into frequent contact with the natives there.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
His visits there, as already remarked, had not been frequent of late.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
frequent
- recurring at short intervals
- constant or habitual
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- (tr) to visit repeatedly or habitually
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin frequēns numerous; perhaps related to Latin farcīre to stuff
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for frequent
adj.
mid-15c., "ample, profuse," from Middle French frequent, or directly from Latin frequentem (nominative frequens) "crowded, repeated," of uncertain origin. Meaning "common, usual" is from 1530s; that of "happening at short intervals, often recurring" is from c.1600.
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v.
late 15c., from Middle French frequenter, from Latin frequentare "visit regularly," from frequentem (see frequent (adj.)). Related: Frequented; frequenting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper