frigidaire

See also: Frigidaire

English

Etymology

Proprietary name of a brand of refrigerators.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌfɹɪdʒɪˈdɛə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌfɹɪd͡ʒɪˈdɛɹ/

Noun

frigidaire (plural frigidaires)

1. (now historical) Trademark for a refrigerator.
   • 1939, W. H. Auden, The Unknown Citizen:

     He [...] had everything necessary to the Modern Man, / A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

     “Have you seen Kipper?” I wouldn't say she snorted, but she certainly sniffed. “Bertie,” she said in a voice straight from the frigidaire, “will you do me a favour?” “Of course. What?” “Don't mention that rat's name in my presence,” she said, and pushed off, the eyelids still weary.

   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Penguin, published 2004, page 659:

     Carpets were spread, divans appeared, as also the latest creation from Italy, a portable frigidaire which held countless bowls of sorbet and iced lemon tea.

French

Etymology

Proprietary name, apparently originally based on Latin frigidarium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁi.ʒi.dɛʁ/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Noun

frigidaire m (plural frigidaires)

1. a refrigerator

Related terms

• frigide
• fridge

Further reading

• “frigidaire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French frigidaire, from a genericized trademark based on Latin frīgidārium, derived from frīgidus (“cold, cool”). Doublet of frigidario.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fri.ʒiˈdɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Noun

frigidaire m (invariable)

1. (obsolete) refrigerator

   Synonym: frigorifero

Further reading

• frigidaire in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana