frederick

English - English

Definition of frederick in English English dictionary

A male given name

When I referred to the confusion which would result from the presence in the house of two people with the same name, she tossed her head and said it would be easy to obviate that by calling me Frederick instead of Fred. - - - Imagine Harry Bolles and other kindred spirits calling me stiff, august Frederick! I vowed that this should not be brought to pass - - -.

{i} male first name

German Friedrich known as Frederick Barbarossa ("Redbeard") born 1123 died June 10, 1190, Kingdom of Armenia Duke of Swabia (1147-90), German king (1152-90), and Holy Roman Emperor (1155-90). He signed the Treaty of Constance (1153), which promised him the imperial crown in return for his allegiance to the papacy. In 1154 he launched the first of six military campaigns against northern Italy and suppressed a revolt in Rome that restored the pope who crowned Frederick emperor in 1155. His support for a series of antipopes against Alexander III led to his excommunication in 1160 and a prolonged struggle with Rome. Renewed expeditions against Italy met with opposition from the Lombard League, which inflicted a severe defeat on Frederick in 1176. In the Peace of Venice (1177) he acknowledged Alexander III as the true pope, and a treaty with the Lombards was confirmed in 1183. Frederick conquered Lübeck in 1180 and broke the power of his chief rival, Duke Henry the Lion. He strengthened the feudal system and curbed the power of the princes by creating a stronger imperial administration. He launched the Third Crusade in 1189 but drowned while crossing a river. German Friedrich born July 11, 1657, Königsberg, Prussia died Feb. 25, 1713, Berlin, Ger. King of Prussia (1701-13). In 1688 he succeeded his father, Frederick William, as elector of Brandenburg (as Frederick III). In European politics, Frederick allied himself with Austria, England, and Holland against France. Prussia's contingents in the imperial army distinguished themselves in the wars of the Grand Alliance and in the War of the Spanish Succession. Austria and Prussia signed a secret treaty that permitted Frederick to crown himself king of Prussia, which was obliged to support Austria militarily and in imperial affairs. As a monarchy, Prussia's diverse Hohenzollern lands were turned into provinces, and Frederick freed the new kingdom from imperial control and increased its revenues. German Friedrich born Dec. 26, 1194, Jesi, Ancona, Papal States died Dec. 13, 1250, Castel Fiorentino, Apulia, Kingdom of Sicily King of Sicily (1197-1250), duke of Swabia (1228-35), German king (1212-50), and Holy Roman Emperor (1220-50). The grandson of Frederick I Barbarossa, he became king of Sicily at age three but did not gain control over the strife-ridden country until 1212. He defeated his rival Otto IV in 1214, and though the planned union of Sicily and Germany alarmed the pope (1220), he negotiated a compromise and was crowned emperor. A delay in departing for the Sixth Crusade brought excommunication (1227), later revoked. By 1229 Frederick was king of Jerusalem. On his return he quelled a rebellion in Germany led by his son Henry, who had allied with the Lombard League. Seeing Frederick as a growing threat to papal authority, Gregory IX excommunicated him again in 1239; the emperor responded by invading the Papal States. He tried and failed (1245) to negotiate peace with Innocent IV, and his struggle with the papacy continued. By the time of his death Frederick had lost much of central Italy, and his support in Germany was uncertain. German Friedrich known as Frederick the Great born Jan. 24, 1712, Berlin died Aug. 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin King of Prussia (1740-86). The son of Frederick William I, he suffered an unhappy early life, subject to his father's capricious bullying. After trying to escape in 1730, he submitted to his father but continued to pursue intellectual and artistic interests. On his father's death (1740), Frederick became king and asserted his leadership. He seized parts of Silesia during the War of the Austrian Succession, strengthening Prussia considerably. He invaded Saxony in 1756 and marched on into Bohemia. Frederick was almost defeated in the Seven Years' War (1756-63), until his admirer Peter III signed a Russo-Prussian peace treaty that lasted until 1780. The First Partition of Poland in 1772 led to enormous territorial gains for Prussia. Austro-Prussian rivalry led to the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-79), a diplomatic victory for Frederick, but continued fear of Habsburg ambitions led him to form a league of German states against Joseph II. Under Frederick's leadership Prussia became one of the great states of Europe, with vastly expanded territories and impressive military strength. In addition to modernizing the army, Frederick also espoused the ideas of enlightened despotism and instituted numerous economic, civil, and social reforms. German Friedrich born Sept. 21, 1415, Innsbruck, Austria died Aug. 19, 1493, Linz Holy Roman emperor from 1452 and king of Germany (as Frederick IV) from 1440. By 1439 he was the senior member of the Habsburg dynasty, and he united the Austrian holdings of two rival branches of the dynasty (partitioned in 1379), helping to lay the foundations for the greatness of the house of Habsburg in European affairs. His greatest achievement was marrying his son Maximilian (later Maximilian I) to Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, which gave the house of Habsburg a large part of Burgundy and made the Austrians a European power. Frederick was the last emperor to be crowned in Rome by a pope. German Friedrich known as Frederick the Winter King born Aug. 26, 1596, Amberg, Upper Palatinate died Nov. 29, 1632, Mainz Elector palatine of the Rhine (1610-23) and king of Bohemia (as Frederick I) for one winter (1619-20). The Protestant Bohemian estates revolted against the Catholic emperor Ferdinand II and offered the crown to Frederick (1619), making him head of the Protestant union against Catholic Austria at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was soon abandoned by his allies and was routed in the Battle of White Mountain. In 1622 he went into exile in Holland. In 1623 he was deprived of his rights as an elector, and in 1628 the Upper Palatinate was annexed by Bavaria. Danish Frederik born Oct. 6, 1808, Amalienborg Castle, Den. died Nov. 15, 1863, Glücksburg Castle King of Denmark (1848-63). After the popular demonstrations of 1848, he appointed a liberal ministry, renounced absolute rule, and adopted a representative government. His policy in Schleswig resulted in the duchy's incorporation into Denmark and war with Austria and Prussia soon after his death (see Schleswig-Holstein Question). The childless Frederick was succeeded by Christian IX. Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Frederick Austerlitz Attenborough Sir David Frederick Banting Sir Frederick Grant Birkenhead Frederick Edwin Smith 1st earl of Blanda George Frederick Blunt Anthony Frederick Borden Sir Frederick William Bowles Paul Frederick Clarendon George William Frederick Villiers 4th earl of Cody William Frederick Delius Frederick Theodore Albert Douglass Frederick Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey Evans Frederick Henry Frederick I Frederick Barbarossa Frederick II Frederick the Great Frederick III Frederick V Frederick the Winter King Frederick VII Frederick Henry Frederick William Frederick William I Frederick William II Frederick William III Frederick William IV Frelinghuysen Frederick Theodore Fuller John Frederick Charles George William Frederick George Augustus Frederick Albert Frederick Arthur George George Frederick Ernest Albert Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood 1st earl of Hall Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Halsey William Frederick Jr. Hassam Frederick Childe Hopkins Sir Frederick Gowland William Frederick Hoppe Lanchester Frederick William Lewis Frederick Carlton Loewe Frederick Lugard Frederick John Dealtry Frederick Ernest McIntyre Bickel Marryat Frederick Mondale Walter Frederick North of Kirtling Frederick Lord Olmsted Frederick Law Parrish Frederick Maxfield Pollock Sir Frederick 3rd Baronet Reinhardt Adolf Frederick Sanger Frederick Soddy Frederick Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Steuben Frederick William Augustus Baron von Taylor Frederick Winslow Turner Frederick Jackson Vinson Frederick Moore Weyerhaeuser Frederick Wilkins Maurice Hugh Frederick Worth Charles Frederick Alexander Frederick

a town in northern Maryland west of Baltimore

Related Terms

Frederick (Tex) Avery

a US cartoon film animator famous for developing the character Bugs Bunny (1907-1980)

Frederick Carlton Lewis

born July 1, 1961, Birmingham, Ala., U.S. U.S. track-and-field athlete. He qualified for the 1980 Olympics but did not participate, because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow games. At the 1984 Olympics he won the 100-m and 200-m races, the long jump, and the 4 100-m relay. At the 1988 Olympics he won the long jump (becoming the first athlete ever to win that event consecutively) and the 100-m race and received a silver medal in the 200-m. In 1992 he again won the long jump and anchored the winning U.S. 4 100-m relay team, and in 1996 he astounded observers by winning a fourth consecutive long-jump title

Frederick Childe Hassam

born Oct. 17, 1859, Boston, Mass., U.S. died Aug. 27, 1935, East Hampton, N.Y. U.S. painter and printmaker. He studied in Boston and Paris before settling in New York City. From 1898 to 1918 he exhibited together with a group of New York and Boston painters known as The Ten, who became the foremost proponents of U.S. Impressionism. Urban life was his favourite subject, but his landscapes of New England and rural New York also became popular. Paintings such as Washington Arch, Spring (1890) are characterized by clear, luminous atmosphere and brilliant colour. He also produced some 400 etchings and lithographs

Frederick Delius

a British composer whose best-known works include On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, and the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet (1862-1934). born Jan. 29, 1862, Bradford, Yorkshire, Eng. died June 10, 1934, Grez-sur-Loing, France British-born French composer. Born to German parents in England, he studied music in Leipzig and elsewhere, and in 1887 Edvard Grieg convinced his parents to let him pursue a musical career. He moved to France, eventually settling in a village near Paris. After World War I he gradually succumbed to paralysis and blindness, the consequence of syphilis. His works, influenced by Claude Debussy, include the operas A Village Romeo and Juliet (1901) and Fennimore and Gerda (1910); the tone poems Brigg Fair (1907) and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912); and the choral works Appalachia (1903) and A Mass of Life (1908)

Frederick Douglass

a former slave in the US, who worked to get rid of slavery (=the practice of having slaves) , and wrote a book about his life (1817-95). orig. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey born February 1818?, Tuckahoe, Md., U.S. died Feb. 20, 1895, Washington, D.C. U.S. abolitionist. The son of a slave mother and a white father, he was sent to work as a house servant in Baltimore, where he learned to read. At age 16 he was returned to the plantation; later he was hired out as a ship caulker. In 1838 he fled to New York City and then to New Bedford, Mass., changing his name to elude slave hunters. His eloquence at an 1841 antislavery convention propelled him into a new career as an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, in which capacity he endured frequent insults and violent personal attacks. In 1845 he wrote his autobiography, now regarded as a classic. To avoid recapture by his owner, whose name he had given in the narrative, he embarked on a speaking tour of England and Ireland (1845-47), returning with enough money to buy his freedom and to start an antislavery newspaper North Star, which he published until 1860 in Rochester, N.Y. In 1851 he split with the radical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and allied himself with moderates led by James Birney. In the American Civil War he was a consultant to Pres. Abraham Lincoln. During Reconstruction he fought for full civil rights for freedmen and supported women's rights. He served in government posts in Washington, D.C. (1877-86), and as U.S. minister to Haiti (1889-91)

Frederick Douglass

(1817-1895) former slave and black American writer, author and publisher of an autobiographical narrative

Frederick Edwin Smith 1st earl of Birkenhead

born July 12, 1872, Birkenhead, Cheshire, Eng. died Sept. 30, 1930, London British politician. Elected to the House of Commons in 1906, he became noted as an orator and soon became a leader of the Conservative Party. As attorney general (1915-18), he successfully prosecuted Roger Casement. As lord chancellor (1919-22), he secured passage of the Law of Property Act (1922) and subsequent real-property statutes (1925) that replaced a convoluted system of land law. He also helped negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921

Frederick H Evans

born June 26, 1853, London, Eng. died June 24, 1943, London British photographer. He first attracted attention as a popular London bookseller and champion of the work of George Bernard Shaw and Aubrey Beardsley. Around 1890 he began to photograph English and French cathedrals, and from 1898 he devoted himself exclusively to photography. His belief that only static views of idealized beauty were worth photographing clashed with the early 20th-century tendency to photograph fleeting images, but his architectural photographs are considered among the world's finest

Frederick Henry

Dutch Frederik Hendrik born Jan. 29, 1584, Delft, Holland died March 14, 1647, The Hague Third hereditary stadtholder (1625-47) of the Dutch Republic. He succeeded his half brother, Maurice of Nassau, as prince of Orange and count of Nassau. Like his father, William I, Frederick Henry continued the war of independence against Spain. By establishing hereditary succession to the stadtholdership for the house of Orange, he exercised semimonarchical powers. A successful strategist, he was responsible for the United Provinces' foreign policy, beginning negotiations that led to a favourable treaty with Spain in 1648

Frederick Henry Evans

born June 26, 1853, London, Eng. died June 24, 1943, London British photographer. He first attracted attention as a popular London bookseller and champion of the work of George Bernard Shaw and Aubrey Beardsley. Around 1890 he began to photograph English and French cathedrals, and from 1898 he devoted himself exclusively to photography. His belief that only static views of idealized beauty were worth photographing clashed with the early 20th-century tendency to photograph fleeting images, but his architectural photographs are considered among the world's finest

Frederick Henry Royce

{i} Sir Henry Royce, Henry Royce (1863-1933), English car manufacturer who was the cofounder of the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing company (together with Charles Stewart Rolls)

Frederick I

{i} (known as Frederick Barbarossa) holy Roman emperor from 1152 to 1190 and king of Germany and Italy

Frederick II

Holy Roman emperor (1212-1250) and king of Sicily (1198-1250) as Frederick I. He led the Sixth Crusade (1228-1229), capturing Jerusalem, and was in continual conflict with the papacy. King of Prussia (1740-1786). Successful in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), he brought Prussia great military prestige in Europe

Frederick IX

King of Denmark (1947-1972) who signed a constitutional amendment allowing the succession of a woman to the throne

Frederick Jackson Turner

born Nov. 14, 1861, Portage, Wis., U.S. died March 14, 1932, San Marino, Calif. U.S. historian. He taught at the University of Wisconsin and at Harvard University. Deeply influenced by his Wisconsin childhood, Turner rejected the doctrine that U.S. institutions could be traced mainly to European origins, and he demonstrated his theories in a series of essays. In "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893) he asserted that the American character had been shaped by frontier life and the end of the frontier era. Later he focused on sectionalism as a force in U.S. development. His essays were collected in The Frontier in American History (1920) and Significance of Sections in American History (1932, Pulitzer Prize)

Frederick John Dealtry Lugard

later Baron Lugard (of Abinger) born Jan. 22, 1858, Fort St. George, Madras, India died April 11, 1945, Abinger, Surrey, Eng. British colonial administrator. In Nigeria he served as high commissioner (1900-06) and governor and governor-general (1912-19). He fought as an officer in British campaigns in Asia and North Africa before accepting posts with the British East Africa Company, the Royal Niger Company, and other private enterprises. He succeeded, in advance of the French, in establishing trade routes centred at Buganda, the Middle Niger, and Bechuanaland. As the chief government administrator in Nigeria, he united the disparate northern and southern districts and greatly influenced British colonial policy by exercising control centrally through native rulers and respecting native legal systems and customs

Frederick Law Olmsted

born April 26, 1822, Hartford, Conn., U.S. died Aug. 28, 1903, Brookline, Mass. U.S. landscape architect. He traveled throughout the American South in the 1850s and won fame for several books describing its slaveholding culture. During an extended vacation in Europe, he became profoundly impressed with English landscaping, which he described in Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England (1852). In 1857 he was hired as superintendent of New York City's newly planned Central Park. With the architect Calvert Vaux (1824-95), he won a competition to design the park, and he became its chief architect in 1858. The result was a nature-lover's paradise incorporating lawns, woods, ponds, and meandering paths; it represented one of the first attempts in the U.S. to apply art to the improvement of nature in a public park. Other Olmsted parks include Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York City; a Niagara Falls, N.Y., park project; an extensive system of parks and parkways in Boston; and the World's Columbian Exposition (later Jackson Park) in Chicago. As chairman of the first Yosemite commission, he helped secure the area as a permanent public park

Frederick Loewe

born June 10, 1901, Berlin, Ger. died Feb. 14, 1988, Palm Springs, Calif., U.S. German-born U.S. songwriter. Son of a Viennese tenor, Loewe was a piano prodigy; at age 13 he became the youngest soloist ever to appear with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied with Ferruccio Busoni and Eugène d'Albert. His song "Katrina," written at age 15, sold more than a million copies. Arriving in the U.S. in 1924, he contributed music to Broadway revues. In 1942 he met Alan Jay Lerner; their 18-year collaboration would produce five classic musicals. Personal differences ended their partnership after Camelot (1960), but they reunited to adapt their film Gigi (1958) for the stage (1973) and to write songs for the film The Little Prince (1974)

Frederick Lord North

later earl of Guilford born April 13, 1732, London, Eng. died Aug. 5, 1792, London English prime minister (1770-82). Elected to Parliament at age 22, he served as lord of the treasury (1759-65) and as chancellor of the Exchequer (1767-70). As prime minister, he gave vacillating support to both harsh and conciliatory measures toward the American colonies before the American Revolution. Although only a halfhearted supporter of the war, he was a pliant agent of George III. He resigned on hearing the news of Charles Cornwallis's defeat at the Siege of Yorktown. In 1783 he formed a brief coalition with his former Whig opponent Charles James Fox

Frederick Lord North of Kirtling

later earl of Guilford born April 13, 1732, London, Eng. died Aug. 5, 1792, London English prime minister (1770-82). Elected to Parliament at age 22, he served as lord of the treasury (1759-65) and as chancellor of the Exchequer (1767-70). As prime minister, he gave vacillating support to both harsh and conciliatory measures toward the American colonies before the American Revolution. Although only a halfhearted supporter of the war, he was a pliant agent of George III. He resigned on hearing the news of Charles Cornwallis's defeat at the Siege of Yorktown. In 1783 he formed a brief coalition with his former Whig opponent Charles James Fox

Frederick Louis MacNeice

{i} (1907-1963) Irish born English poet

Frederick Marryat

born July 10, 1792, London, Eng. died Aug. 9, 1848, Langham, Norfolk English naval officer and novelist. He served in the Royal Navy from age 14 until he retired in 1830 as a captain. He then began a series of adventure novels including The King's Own (1830), Peter Simple (1834), and Poor Jack (1840) marked by a lucid, direct narrative style, humour, and incidents drawn from his varied experience at sea. His Children of the New Forest (1847), set during the English Civil Wars, is a classic of children's literature

Frederick Maxfield Parrish

born July 25, 1870, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. died March 10, 1966, Plainfield, N.H. U.S. illustrator and painter. Trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Drexel Institute of Art, he was the highest-paid commercial artist and muralist in the U.S. by the 1920s. He is best known for his depictions of fantasy landscapes populated by attractive young women. He used meticulously defined outlines and intricately detailed natural backgrounds; his unusual colours, especially the luminous "Parrish blue," give his pictures a dreamlike quality. Though his popularity declined in the late 1930s, appreciation of his work revived in the 1960s and '70s

Frederick Moore Vinson

v. born Jan. 22, 1890, Louisa, Ky., U.S. died Sept. 8, 1953, Washington, D.C. U.S. jurist. He served in Congress for all but two years during the period 1923 to 1938. After serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals (1938-43), he held high executive positions, including secretary of the treasury under Pres. Harry Truman. He helped establish the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund. From 1946 to 1953 he was chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. During his tenure he favoured Truman's internal security policies and upheld the equal-protection rights of racial minorities

Frederick Sanger

born Aug. 13, 1918, Rendcombe, Gloucestershire, Eng. British biochemist. Educated at the University of Cambridge, he thereafter worked principally at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge (1951-83). He spent 10 years elucidating the structure of the insulin molecule, determining the exact order of all its amino acids by 1955. His techniques for determining the order in which amino acids are linked in proteins made it possible to discover the structure of many other complex proteins. In 1958 he won a Nobel Prize for his work. In 1980 Sanger became the fourth person ever to be awarded a second Nobel Prize, which he shared with Paul Berg and Walter Gilbert (b. 1932), for determining the sequences of nucleotides in the DNA molecule of a small virus

Frederick Soddy

born Sept. 2, 1877, Eastbourne, Sussex, Eng. died Sept. 22, 1956, Brighton, Sussex British chemist. He worked with Ernest Rutherford to develop a theory of the disintegration of radioactive elements. In 1912 he was among the first to conclude that elements might exist in forms (isotopes) of different atomic weights but indistinguishable chemically. In Science and Life (1920) he pointed out the value of isotopes in determining geologic age (see carbon-14 dating). For his investigations of radioactivity and isotopes, he received a 1921 Nobel Prize

Frederick Theodore Albert Delius

born Jan. 29, 1862, Bradford, Yorkshire, Eng. died June 10, 1934, Grez-sur-Loing, France British-born French composer. Born to German parents in England, he studied music in Leipzig and elsewhere, and in 1887 Edvard Grieg convinced his parents to let him pursue a musical career. He moved to France, eventually settling in a village near Paris. After World War I he gradually succumbed to paralysis and blindness, the consequence of syphilis. His works, influenced by Claude Debussy, include the operas A Village Romeo and Juliet (1901) and Fennimore and Gerda (1910); the tone poems Brigg Fair (1907) and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912); and the choral works Appalachia (1903) and A Mass of Life (1908)

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen

born Aug. 4, 1817, Millstone, N.J., U.S. died May 20, 1885, Newark, N.J. U.S. politician. Born into a prominent political family, he helped found the New Jersey Republican Party and served as state attorney general (1861-66). He was appointed, then elected, to the U.S. Senate (1866-69, 1871-77). As secretary of state (1881-85) he obtained Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a U.S. naval base and opened treaty relations with Korea (1882)

Frederick W Taylor

born March 20, 1856, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. died March 21, 1915, Philadelphia U.S. inventor and engineer. He worked at Midvale Steel Co. (1878-90), where he introduced time-and-motion study in order to systematize shop management and reduce manufacturing costs. Though his system provoked resentment and opposition from labour when carried to extremes, it had an immense impact on the development of mass production techniques and has influenced the development of virtually every modern industrial country. Taylor is regarded as the father of scientific management. See also production management; Taylorism

Frederick Weyerhaeuser

orig. Friedrich Weyerhaeuser born Nov. 21, 1834, Nieder Saulheim, Hesse died April 4, 1914, Pasadena, Calif., U.S. German-born U.S. lumber magnate. He immigrated to the U.S. at age 18 and found work in an Illinois sawmill, which he and his brother-in-law bought in 1857. He traveled constantly to buy stands of timber and acquired an interest in many logging and milling operations. In 1872 he organized the Mississippi River Boom and Logging Co., a huge confederation that handled all the logs milled on the Mississippi. In 1900 he bought 900,000 acres of timberland in the Pacific Northwest and founded the Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. (now Weyerhaeuser Co.), centred in Tacoma, Wash. During his lifetime the company bought almost two million acres of land

Frederick William

Elector of Brandenburg (1640-1688) who reorganized and rebuilt his domain after its devastation in the Thirty Years' War. German Friedrich Wilhelm known as the Great Elector born Feb. 16, 1620, Cölln, near Berlin died May 9, 1688, Potsdam Elector of Brandenburg (1640-88) who restored the Hohenzollern dominions after the Thirty Years' War. At his accession to the electorship, Brandenburg was ravaged by war and occupied by foreign troops. He cautiously maintained neutrality between the warring Swedes and Habsburgs, started to build a standing army, and added to his territories with the Peace of Westphalia (1648). In the First Northern War (1655-60) he gained sovereignty over the duchy of Prussia. In the complex power struggles in Europe starting in 1661, he shifted allegiance by always joining with the weaker party, hoping to maintain the balance of power. He issued the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, granting asylum to Huguenots expelled from France. When he died, he left a centralized political administration, sound finances, and an efficient army, laying the foundation for the future Prussian monarchy. German Friedrich Wilhelm born Aug. 15, 1688, Berlin died May 31, 1740, Potsdam, Prussia King of Prussia (1713-40). The son of Frederick I, he received valuable military experience in the War of the Spanish Succession. Realizing that Prussia's military and financial weakness made it dependent on the relations between the great powers, he built up an army that became a strong military presence on the Continent, instituted economic and financial reforms, centralized his administration, encouraged industry and manufacture, mandated compulsory primary education (1717), and freed the serfs on his own domains (1719). He was succeeded by his son, Frederick II. German Friedrich Wilhelm born Sept. 25, 1744, Berlin, Prussia died Nov. 16, 1797, Berlin King of Prussia from 1786. He succeeded his uncle Frederick II. Prussia expanded under his rule, adding territories it gained in the second (1793) and third (1795) partitions of Poland and acquiring additional German lands. He entered into an Austro-Prussian alliance, chiefly in opposition to the French Revolution, but signed a separate treaty with France and withdrew from the alliance in 1795 after defeat in the French Revolutionary Wars. Cultural activities, especially music, flourished in his reign; both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven visited the king and dedicated music to him. German Friedrich Wilhelm born Aug. 3, 1770, Potsdam, Prussia died June 7, 1840, Berlin King of Prussia (1797-1840). The son of Frederick William II, he pursued a policy of neutrality in the early years of the Napoleonic Wars, which accelerated the decline of Prussia's prestige. Prussia joined the third coalition against France in 1806 and suffered crushing defeat at the Battles of Jena and Auerstedt. Defeat convinced the king of the need to make decisive changes. He allowed Prussian statesmen such as Karl August, prince von Hardenberg, and Karl, imperial baron vom Stein, to make domestic reforms, though the state remained absolutist. The Congress of Vienna confirmed Prussia's acquisition of Westphalia and much of Saxony, but the last 25 years of the king's reign brought a downward trend in Prussia's fortunes. German Friedrich Wilhelm born Oct. 15, 1795, Cölln, near Berlin, Prussia died Jan. 2, 1861, Potsdam King of Prussia (1840-61). The son of Frederick William III, he was a disciple of the German Romantic movement and an artistic dilettante, but his conservative policies helped spark the Revolutions of 1848, in opposition. In 1849 he refused the imperial crown offered by the Frankfurt National Assembly. His subsequent efforts to create a German union under Prussian leadership were thwarted by Austria (see Punctation of Olmütz). A stroke left him paralyzed in 1857, and his brother, the future William I, became regent in 1858

Frederick William I

King of Prussia (1713-1740) who strengthened the army and diversified the economy of his dominion

Frederick William II

King of Prussia (1786-1797) whose mismanaged reign was marked by a costly war with Revolutionary France (1792-1795)

Frederick William III

King of Prussia (1797-1840) whose long turbulent reign included participation in the Napoleonic Wars and the suppression of democratic movements

Frederick William IV

King of Prussia (1840-1861) who crushed the Revolution of 1848 and refused the crown of a united Germany offered to him by the Frankfurt Parliament (1849)

Frederick William Lanchester

born Oct. 23, 1868, London, Eng. died March 8, 1946, Birmingham, Warwickshire British automobile and aeronautics pioneer. Lanchester produced the first British automobile, a one-cylinder, five-horsepower model, in 1896. After he successfully produced improved models, financial backing enabled him to produce several hundred cars over the next few years, vehicles notable for a relative freedom from vibration, a graceful appearance, and a luggage rack. He published an important paper (1897) on the principles of heavier-than-air flight and later major texts on aeronautics

Frederick Winslow Taylor

born March 20, 1856, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. died March 21, 1915, Philadelphia U.S. inventor and engineer. He worked at Midvale Steel Co. (1878-90), where he introduced time-and-motion study in order to systematize shop management and reduce manufacturing costs. Though his system provoked resentment and opposition from labour when carried to extremes, it had an immense impact on the development of mass production techniques and has influenced the development of virtually every modern industrial country. Taylor is regarded as the father of scientific management. See also production management; Taylorism

frederick i

Holy Roman Emperor from 1152 to 1190; conceded supremacy to the pope; drowned leading the Third Crusade (1123-1190) son of Frederick William who in 1701 became the first king of Prussia (1657-1713)

frederick ii

the Holy Roman Emperor who led the Sixth Crusade and crowned himself king of Jerusalem (1194-1250) king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786; brought Prussia military prestige by winning the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War (1712-1786)

frederick william

the Elector of Brandenburg who rebuilt his domain after its destruction during the Thirty Years' War (1620-1688)

frederick william i

son of Frederick I who became king of Prussia in 1713; reformed and strengthened the Prussian army (1688-1740)

frederick william ii

king of Prussia who became involved in a costly war with France (1744-1797)

frederick william iii

king of Prussia who became involved in the Napoleonic Wars (1770-1840)

frederick william iv

king of Prussia who violently suppressed democratic movements (1795-1865)

Adolf Frederick Reinhardt

born Dec. 24, 1913, Buffalo, N.Y., U.S. died Aug. 30, 1967, New York, N.Y. U.S. painter. He studied art after graduating from Columbia University. He employed several abstract styles in the 1930s and '40s, but by the early 1950s he had restricted his works to monochrome paintings incorporating symmetrically placed squares and oblong shapes against backgrounds of similar colour, in which drawing, line, brushwork, texture, light, and most other visual elements were suppressed. He explained his style as a conscious search for an art that would be entirely separate from life. He influenced the Minimalist movement of the 1960s, more as a polemicist than as a painter

Anthony Frederick Blunt

born Sept. 26, 1907, Bournemouth, Hampshire, Eng. died March 26, 1983, London British art historian and spy. He began his espionage for the Soviet Union after meeting Guy Burgess at the University of Cambridge in the 1930s. From 1937 Blunt had a brilliant career as an art historian, publishing scores of scholarly works that largely established art history in Britain. In World War II he served in British military intelligence and also gave secret information to the Soviets. In 1945 he was appointed surveyor of the king's (later queen's) pictures, and in 1947 he became director of the prestigious Courtauld Institute. He ceased active intelligence work but in 1951 arranged for the escape of Burgess and Donald Maclean (1913-1983) from Britain. In 1964, after the defection of Kim Philby, Blunt was confronted by British authorities and secretly confessed his Soviet connections. When his past as the "fourth man" in the spy ring was made public in 1979, he was stripped of the knighthood awarded him in 1956

Baron von Steuben, Frederick William

born Sept. 17, 1730, Magdeburg, Prussia died Nov. 28, 1794, near Remsen, N.Y., U.S. German-born American Revolutionary officer. He joined the Prussian army at 16 and was a captain in the Seven Years' War. After the war he retired from the army and became court chamberlain for the prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen; at some unknown date he apparently was created a baron. Recommended to George Washington, he arrived in America in 1777. Appointed to train the Continental forces at Valley Forge, Pa., he produced a disciplined fighting force that became the model for the entire Continental Army. He was appointed inspector general of the army and was promoted to major general (1778), and he helped command the Siege of Yorktown

Baron von Steuben, Frederick William Augustus

born Sept. 17, 1730, Magdeburg, Prussia died Nov. 28, 1794, near Remsen, N.Y., U.S. German-born American Revolutionary officer. He joined the Prussian army at 16 and was a captain in the Seven Years' War. After the war he retired from the army and became court chamberlain for the prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen; at some unknown date he apparently was created a baron. Recommended to George Washington, he arrived in America in 1777. Appointed to train the Continental forces at Valley Forge, Pa., he produced a disciplined fighting force that became the model for the entire Continental Army. He was appointed inspector general of the army and was promoted to major general (1778), and he helped command the Siege of Yorktown

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen

born Sept. 23, 1949, Freehold, N.J., U.S. U.S. singer and songwriter. He played guitar in several bar bands on the Jersey Shore before forming the E Street Band in the early 1970s. His third album, Born to Run (1975), was a huge success and landed "the Boss" on the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines. Even more successful was his Born in the USA (1984). Springsteen's sensitive lyrics, often voicing his working-class sympathies, and marathon concerts won him a devoted following. He addressed Americans' concerns over the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in The Rising (2002)

Charles Frederick Worth

born Oct. 13, 1825, Bourne, Lincolnshire, Eng. died March 10, 1895, Paris, France British-born French fashion designer. In 1845 he left England, where he had been a bookkeeper, and worked in a Paris dress accessories shop. In 1858 he opened his own ladies' tailor shop and soon gained the patronage of the empress Eugénie. He was a pioneer of the "fashion show" (the preparation and showing of a collection), the first man to become prominent in the field of fashion, and the first designer to create dresses intended to be copied and distributed throughout the world. He became the dictator of Paris fashion and was especially noted for his elegant Second Empire gowns. He invented the bustle, which became standard in women's fashion in the 1870s and '80s

Edward Frederick Lindley Wood 1st earl of Halifax

born April 16, 1881, Powderham Castle, Devonshire, Eng. died Dec. 23, 1959, Garroby Hall, near York, Yorkshire British statesman. He was elected to Parliament in 1910. As viceroy of India (1925-31), he worked on terms of understanding with Mohandas K. Gandhi and accelerated constitutional advances. His tenure as foreign secretary (1938-40) in Neville Chamberlain's government was controversial because of Chamberlain's policy of appeasement toward Adolf Hitler, but Halifax kept the post into Winston Churchill's ministry. As ambassador to the U.S. (1941-46), he greatly served the Allied cause in World War II, for which he was created earl of Halifax in 1944

George Frederick Blanda

born Sept. 17, 1927, Youngwood, Pa., U.S. U.S. football player. He played for the University of Kentucky. As a professional quarterback and kicker, he played for the Chicago Bears (1949-58), Houston Oilers (1960-66), and Oakland Raiders (1967-76), setting still-standing records for most seasons played (26), most games played (340), and most points after touchdowns (943). His record for most field goals (335) was broken in 1983

George Frederick Handel

a British composer, born in Germany, famous for his oratorios, such as the Messiah, and his orchestral music, particularly his Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks (1685-1759)

George Frederick Handel

{i} George Handel (1685-1759), German composer of Baroque music who lived most of his life in England, composer of the oratorio "Messiah

George William Frederick Villiers 4th earl of Clarendon

born Jan. 12, 1800, London, Eng. died June 27, 1870, London British statesman. After serving as British ambassador to Spain (1833-39), he held various cabinet posts until Lord Aberdeen named him secretary of state for foreign affairs in 1853. Clarendon failed to prevent the outbreak of the Crimean War, and his performance during it was undistinguished, but he secured favourable terms for Britain at the Congress of Paris (1856). He continued in office under Lord Palmerston until 1858 and also served as foreign secretary under Earl Russell (1865-66) and William E. Gladstone (1868-70)

John Frederick Charles Fuller

born Sept. 1, 1878, Chichester, Sussex, Eng. died Feb. 10, 1966, Falmouth, Cornwall British military theoretician and historian. He served as chief of staff of the British tank corps in World War I. He planned the surprise attack of 381 tanks at the Battle of Cambrai (Nov. 20, 1917), the first massed tank assault in history. After the war he launched a crusade for the mechanization and modernization of the British army. His emphasis on the armoured offensive met with resistance among English military tacticians, but his teachings were largely vindicated in World War II. His works include Tanks in the Great War (1920), Machine Warfare (1942), and A Military History of the Western World (1954-56)

Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins

born Dec. 15, 1916, Pongaroa, N.Z. died Oct. 6, 2004, London, Eng. New Zealand-born British biophysicist. Educated in Birmingham and Cambridge, he participated in the Manhattan Project, working on the separation of uranium isotopes for use in the atomic bomb. On his return to Britain, he began a series of investigations that led ultimately to his studies of DNA. His X-ray diffraction studies of DNA proved crucial to the determination of DNA's molecular structure by James D. Watson and Francis Crick, for which the three were awarded a 1962 Nobel Prize. He later applied X-ray diffraction techniques to the study of RNA. See also Rosalind Franklin

Paul Frederick Bowles

born Dec. 30, 1910, New York, N.Y., U.S. died Nov. 18, 1999, Tangier, Mor. U.S.-Moroccan composer, writer, and translator. Bowles studied composition with Aaron Copland and wrote music for more than 30 plays and films. He moved to Morocco in the 1940s. He set his best-known novel, The Sheltering Sky (1948; film, 1990), in Tangier. His protagonists, both in that novel and elsewhere, are often Westerners maimed by their contact with traditional cultures that bewilder them, and violent events and psychological collapse are recounted in a detached and elegant style. His wife, Jane Bowles (1917-73), is known for the novel Two Serious Ladies (1943) and the play In the Summer House (1953)

Sir David Frederick Attenborough

born May 8, 1926, London, Eng. British television writer. For the BBC, which he joined in 1952, he originated the series Zoo Quest (1954-64). As controller of BBC-2 (1965-68) and director of programs (1968-72), he helped produce The Forsyte Saga, The Ascent of Man, and Civilisation. As an independent producer, he made innovative educational programs such as Life on Earth (1979) and The Living Planet (1984). He was knighted in 1985

Sir Frederick 3rd Baronet Pollock

born Dec. 10, 1845, London, Eng. died Jan. 18, 1937, London British legal scholar. He taught at the University of Oxford (1883-1903) and was made a king's counsel in 1920. He was noted for his History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I (1895; written with Frederic W. Maitland) and several standard textbooks. He maintained a 60-year correspondence with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; the Holmes-Pollock Letters were published in 1941

Sir Frederick Ashton

born Sept. 17, 1904, Guayaquil, Ecua. died Aug. 18, 1988, Sussex, Eng. Principal choreographer and director of England's Royal Ballet. After creating ballets from 1925 for the Ballet Club (later Ballet Rambert), he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (later Royal Ballet) in 1933, becoming principal choreographer, assistant director (1953-63), and director (1963-70). At least 30 of his works remain in its repertoire, including Façade (1931), Symphonic Variations (1946), and Birthday Offering (1956). He also choreographed for companies such as the Royal Danish Ballet (Romeo and Juliet, 1955) and the New York City Ballet (Illuminations, 1950)

Sir Frederick Borden

born May 14, 1847, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia died Jan. 6, 1917, Canning, Nova Scotia, Can. Canadian politician. After studying at Harvard University, he returned to Nova Scotia to practice medicine. In 1874 he was elected as a Liberal Party member to the House of Commons, where he served almost continuously until 1911. As minister of militia and defense (1896-1911), he improved the training of the armed services and helped create a Canadian navy

Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins

born June 20, 1861, Eastbourne, East Sussex, Eng. died May 16, 1947, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire British biochemist. He discovered the amino acid tryptophan (1901) and showed that it and certain others are essential in the diet and cannot be made in the body from other substances. For his discovery of vitamins, he shared a 1929 Nobel Prize with Christiaan Eijkman. He demonstrated that working muscles accumulate lactic acid and isolated the tripeptide (see peptide) glutathione (1922) and showed that it is vital to utilization of oxygen by cells. He was knighted in 1925

Sir Frederick Grant Banting

born Nov. 14, 1891, Alliston, Ont., Can. died Feb. 21, 1941, Nfd. Canadian physician. He taught at the University of Toronto from 1923. With Charles Best, he was the first to obtain a pancreatic extract of insulin (1921), which, in the laboratory of J.J.R. Macleod, they isolated in a form effective against diabetes. Banting and Macleod received a 1923 Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin; Banting voluntarily shared his portion of the prize with Best

Sir Frederick Grant Banting

{i} (1891-1941) Canadian physiologist who shared the 1923 Nobel prize for medicine and physiology with John James Macleod for the discovery of insulin

Sir Frederick William Borden

born May 14, 1847, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia died Jan. 6, 1917, Canning, Nova Scotia, Can. Canadian politician. After studying at Harvard University, he returned to Nova Scotia to practice medicine. In 1874 he was elected as a Liberal Party member to the House of Commons, where he served almost continuously until 1911. As minister of militia and defense (1896-1911), he improved the training of the armed services and helped create a Canadian navy

Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton

born Sept. 17, 1904, Guayaquil, Ecua. died Aug. 18, 1988, Sussex, Eng. Principal choreographer and director of England's Royal Ballet. After creating ballets from 1925 for the Ballet Club (later Ballet Rambert), he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (later Royal Ballet) in 1933, becoming principal choreographer, assistant director (1953-63), and director (1963-70). At least 30 of his works remain in its repertoire, including Façade (1931), Symphonic Variations (1946), and Birthday Offering (1956). He also choreographed for companies such as the Royal Danish Ballet (Romeo and Juliet, 1955) and the New York City Ballet (Illuminations, 1950)

Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall

born Nov. 22, 1930, Bury Saint Edmonds, Suffolk, Eng. British theatre, opera, and film director. After producing and acting in plays at Cambridge University, he entered the professional theatre. At London's Arts Theatre (1955-56) he staged London premieres of important continental plays. Especially renowned for his Shakespearean productions, he was managing director of the Royal Shakespeare Co. (1962-68) and continued to direct plays for it long afterward. He succeeded Laurence Olivier as managing director of London's National Theatre (1973-88). He formed his own theatrical production company in 1988 and also directed operas and several films

Walter Frederick Mondale

born Jan. 5, 1928, Ceylon, Minn., U.S. U.S. politician. He was active in Minnesota's Farmer-Labor Party and worked for Hubert H. Humphrey's U.S. Senate campaign in 1948. After graduating from the University of Minnesota law school in 1956, he was Minnesota's attorney general from 1960 to his appointment in 1964 to fill Humphrey's unexpired Senate term when Humphrey won election as vice president under Lyndon B. Johnson. He won election to the Senate in 1966 and reelection in 1972. In 1976 he was elected vice president under Jimmy Carter. In 1984 he won the Democratic presidential nomination but lost the election to Ronald Reagan. He resumed his law practice and later served as ambassador to Japan (1993-96). In 2002 he campaigned for a seat in the U.S. Senate after Paul Wellstone, a Minnesota senator, died in a plane crash days before the election; Mondale was narrowly defeated

William Frederick Cody

the real name of Buffalo Bill. known as Buffalo Bill born Feb. 26, 1846, Scott county, Iowa, U.S. died Jan. 10, 1917, Denver, Colo. U.S. buffalo hunter, army scout, and Indian fighter. He became a rider for the Pony Express and later served in the American Civil War. In 1867-68 he hunted buffalo to feed construction crews for the Union Pacific Railroad; he became known as Buffalo Bill after slaughtering 4,280 head of buffalo in eight months. He was a scout for the U.S. 5th Cavalry (1868-72, 1876) as it subdued Indian resistance. His exploits, including the scalping of the Cheyenne warrior Yellow Hair in 1876, were chronicled by reporters and novelists, who made him a folk hero. He began acting in dramas about the West, and in 1883 he organized his first Wild West Show, which included stars such as Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull. The show toured in the U.S. and abroad to wide acclaim

William Frederick Jr. Halsey

known as Bull Halsey born Oct. 30, 1882, Elizabeth, N.J., U.S. died Aug. 16, 1959, Fishers Island, N.Y. U.S. admiral. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, he commanded a destroyer in World War I. He became a naval aviator in 1935, and in 1940 he was promoted to vice admiral. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, his fleet was at sea; the only U.S. naval presence in the Pacific for months, it carried out surprise attacks against Japanese-held islands in the Marshall and Gilbert islands. A leading exponent of carrier-based aircraft, he became famous for his daring and imaginative tactics. As commander of the South Pacific naval forces, he was instrumental in the Japanese defeat at Guadalcanal. In 1944 he became commander of the 3rd Fleet, leading his carrier task force in brilliant air strikes. He was responsible for finding and destroying the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He was promoted to fleet admiral in 1945 and retired in 1947

Hyphenation

Fred·er·ick

Turkish pronunciation

fredrîk

Pronunciation

/ˈfredrək/ /ˈfrɛdrɪk/

Etymology

() From the German Friedrich, from Old High German Fridurih, from Proto-Germanic *Frid-ric (peaceful ruler).

Videos

... mired in the ideology of Frederick Winslow Taylor and his notions of "scientific management": ...