Frost: the old word for ice at rest

A rose can survive a night like this. The edges turn glassy, the air stills, and colour hardens to crystal. The word ‘frost’ has followed English speakers for more than a millennium, from Old English ‘forst’ to today’s unchanged form. Its root lies deep in Proto-Germanic frustaz and the older Indo-European preus- — a word for freezing, burning, shivering. Across Europe the pattern remains: German ‘Frost’, Dutch ‘vorst’, Swedish ‘frost’, French ‘gelée’, Irish ‘sioc’. Few words have stayed so close to their origin, or so true to their meaning.