FRE

Fre is a historical three-letter code associated with the French language in the ISO 639 standard, used primarily in library cataloging and metadata. In ISO 639-2, there are two parallel sets of codes for some languages: a bibliographic code (B) and a terminological code (T). For French, the bibliographic code is fre, while the terminological code is fra. The two codes reflect different purposes within cataloging systems: bibliographic codes were created to align with older library practices, whereas terminological codes align more closely with modern linguistic terminology.

By contrast, the contemporary ISO 639-1 two-letter code for French is fr, and in ISO 639-3 the language is designated as fra. This means that fre is largely of historical or specialized use, and it can appear in older records or certain legacy systems. In practice, many modern in-house catalogs and metadata pipelines prefer fra or fr, to align with current international standards and interoperability.

In summary, fre is the bibliographic 639-2 code for French, distinct from the current terminological 639-2 code fra and the widely used 639-1 code fr. Its usage today is mostly limited to historical data, archival catalogs, and systems that retain legacy language codes. See also French language, ISO 639 standards, and library cataloging practices.