DCHP-2

frosh week DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Education

  the first week of school at a university, particularly the events held for first-year students.

  Type: 1. Origin — The OED-3 (s.v. "frosh" n. (2)) marks the term frosh as "N. Amer. slang" and describes it as a "modified shortening of 'freshman'", possibly from the German word for frog, frosch. In Canada, the term frosh week appropriates the general meaning of frosh to apply to the first week of school which includes many events for freshmen. Though "frosh" is not limited to Canada, frosh week appears to be almost exclusively Canadian (see Chart 1).

  See also: frosh leader  

  • The most popular term for frosh in the UK is fresher and in the US, paradoxically for both genders, freshman.