Meaning

noun a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

noun someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction

verb lose one's nerve

originFirst appears c. 1567. The sense "sudden change of mind, a whim" is of uncertain origin. Probably from a dialectal word related to Middle English frekynge (“capricious behavior; whims”) and Middle English friken, frikien (“to move briskly or nimbly”), from Old English frīcian (“to leap, dance”), or Middle English frek (“insolent, daring”), from Old English frec (“desirous, greedy, eager, bold,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0