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freshman

freshman

202 2.3
A student in their first year at high school or university
  • noun
  • /ˈfrɛʃˌmæn/
  • US
translation icon : estudiante de primer año
  • Markus is 15 years old and a freshman at Thomas High School.
  • freshman class
  • freshman year
  • college freshman

And we, the tour walked right in front of my freshman dorm window.

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Examples

  • She's a freshman in college, eager to make new friends and explore her major.

  • So the end of my freshman year was kind of like weird.

  • Now, your son is a freshman and not my daughter.

  • Miss Kelly Smith, she was our freshman year English teacher.

  • So there was this one day in freshman year that I remember.

  • So that is the story of my freshman year in the French House.

  • We were friends since freshman year.

  • And I will be back this fall to teach my freshman seminar on free speech.

  • She was a senior when I was a freshman.

  • I had a Mormon roommate my freshman year.

Synonyms

student
vsfreshman
1.0

A person who studies at a school or university

is restricted to those in their first year rather than any learner
first-year
vsfreshman
170 3.0

A person who started school, college, or a job this year

is limited to starters at school or college rather than any experience
fresher
vsfreshman
  • UK
27 5.5

A student in their first year at a university or college

is the North American term for the same first-year student role
frosh
vsfreshman
  • Informal
2 8.0

A first-year student at high school or college

is the standard neutral term used widely for the same role
underclassman
vsfreshman
  • US
2 4.1

A student in the first or second year who is not yet a senior

is specifically a first-year student rather than any lower-grade learner

Antonyms

153 4.1

Having long experience and skill in a job or activity

senior
  • US
145 2.3

A student in the last year of high school or college

Compounds

11 2.4

A group of students in their first year at a college or high school

How Advanced

graduate student
  • US
75 2.5
senior
  • US
145 2.3
junior
  • US
140 2.4
sophomore
  • US
149 3.2
freshman
  • US
202 2.3

Surface Forms

freshman singular
freshmen plural

Morphology

freshman = fresh + man (transparent) = fresh + man

Composition of 'fresh' (new) + 'man' (person) clearly yields 'a new person' (first-year student) for typical learners.

Etymology

Freshman is made from fresh ('new') and man ('person'). At schools it meant a 'new person' in their first year, which is why we use it for first-year students.