Hypertext Webster Gateway: "freak"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Freak \Freak\ (fr[=e]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Freaked}
(fr[=e]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Freaking}.] [Akin to OE. frakin,
freken, freckle, Icel. freknur, pl., Sw. fr["a]kne, Dan.
fregne, Gr. perkno`s dark-colored, Skr. p[.r][,c]ni
variegated. Cf. {Freckle}, {Freck}.]
To variegate; to checker; to streak. [R.]
Freaked with many a mingled hue. --Thomson.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Freak \Freak\, n. [Prob. from OE. frek bold, AS. frec bold,
greedly; akin to OHG. freh greedly, G. frech insolent, Icel.
frekr greedy, Goth. fa['i]hufriks avaricious.]
A sudden causeless change or turn of the mind; a whim of
fancy; a capricious prank; a vagary or caprice.
She is restless and peevish, and sometimes in a freak
will instantly change her habitation. --Spectator.
Syn: Whim; caprice; folly; sport. See {Whim}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
freak
n 1: a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed
[syn: {monster}, {monstrosity}, {lusus naturae}]
2: someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it
resembles an addiction; "a golf addict"; "a car nut"; "a
control freak" [syn: {addict}, {nut}]
v : lose one's nerve; "When he saw the accident, he freaked out"
[syn: {freak out}, {gross out}]
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