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fra

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Italian has two words spelled fra: the preposition, from Latin īnfrā, and the title of a friar, a shortening of frate.[1][2][3]

fra1 between, among

Pronunciation

Etymology

The preposition is inherited from Latin īnfrā (“below, beneath”), which lost its first syllable.[1][5][2][6] In Late Latin it was confused with intrā (“within”), and so took the sense “between” that it shares with tra.[5][7][6] The Latin word is a contracted ablative feminine of īnferus (“lower, below”), with the word for “side” understood.[2][4][8] It survives elsewhere in Occitan enfra and in Romansh compounds.[5][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the preposition before 1250.[3] DELI's first record is Dino Compagni's chronicle, 1310–1312, where it has the same meanings as tra.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo notes that tra and fra appear in Italian charters from 764, and argues that their sources, “within” and “below”, should keep them apart; usage, however, has merged them.[11] In Old Italian fra joined the article as frallo, fralla, fralle, like other prepositions.[6][3] Marco Polo's translator, Boccaccio, Ariosto and Tasso use it for a position between two things or among many.[6]

In compounds fra- replaces Latin inter- and doubles the following consonant, as in frattanto “meanwhile”.[12][13] Today the choice between fra and tra is mostly a matter of sound: speakers avoid fra fratelli and tra tre.[3][14]

Timeline

  • 764 – Tra and fra appear in charters.[11]
  • Before 1250 – The preposition is first recorded.[3]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it as a synonym of tra.[1]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. between, in the space between two points or things: Il paese si trova fra due fiumi.[15][14][4]
  2. among, in the midst of: L'ho riconosciuto fra la folla.[15][4]
  3. In, within (time from now): Ci vediamo fra un'ora.[3][4]
  4. Between, of a relation or comparison: un accordo fra i due governi.[15][14]
  5. Indicating one of a set: fra tutti, eravamo una ventina.[14]
  6. fra sé e sé: to oneself, inwardly.[3][14]

Word family

  • frattanto

fra2 friar

Pronunciation

Forms

fra m (invariable)[4]

Etymology

The title is a shortened form of frate “friar”, used before a name.[1][2][16][4] The full form continues Latin frāter (“brother”).[16][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Iacopone da Todi, who died in 1306: “O fra Ranaldo, do' èi andato?” (O Brother Rinaldo, where have you gone?).[1][17]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio's Decameron has Fra Puccio, and Manzoni's I promessi sposi made fra Cristoforo a household name.[17] Tommaseo noted that in his time the title was given above all to lay brothers, and sounded familiar or slighting when used of friars who were priests.[11] Some friars are known by the title alone, as Fra Paolo Sarpi.[11] English uses Fra for Italian friars from the 16th century, and German from 1839.[18]

Timeline

  • Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi uses fra before a name.[1]
  • 16th century – English Fra is recorded.[18]
  • 1839 – German Fra is recorded.[18]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Brother, the title of a friar, placed before his name, usually a name beginning with a consonant: fra Cristoforo.[16][3][15][4]

Usage notes

The title is also written fra’ or frà, and is used mainly before names beginning with a consonant.[16][3] Young people use fra as slang for “bro”, a shortening of fratello.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 263
  7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
  13. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 460
  14. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  16. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  17. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 264
  18. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it