frit (FRIT) - n., the calcined or partially fused mixture of sand and fluxes used to make glass; a vitreous substance used in making porcelain, glazes, or enamels.
By vitreous is meant it was glass but now has been granulated. The latter is the more common meaning -- the stuff that, once melted, will be turned into glass glassmakers now more commonly called a glass batch. Adopted around 1660 from Italian fritta, from feminine past participle of friggere, to fry, from Latin frīgere, to roast/fry, referring to the calcining preprocessing. (SO, yes, a fritter is something fried.)
---L.
By vitreous is meant it was glass but now has been granulated. The latter is the more common meaning -- the stuff that, once melted, will be turned into glass glassmakers now more commonly called a glass batch. Adopted around 1660 from Italian fritta, from feminine past participle of friggere, to fry, from Latin frīgere, to roast/fry, referring to the calcining preprocessing. (SO, yes, a fritter is something fried.)
---L.