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fractio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word fractio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 383–420 AD, Jerome
Ultimate origin
Latin frangō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin frango
Latin fractio
From the same root
Latin anfractus ← frango
Latin confringo ← frango
Latin defringo ← frango
Latin effringo ← frango
Latin fragilis ← frango
Latin fragmen ← frango
Latin fragmentum ← frango
Latin infringo ← frango
Latin perfringo ← frango
Latin praefringo ← frango
Latin refringo ← frango

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfraːk.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfrak.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

frāctiō f (genitive frāctiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin frangō (“to break”) + -tiō, built on ⟨frāct-⟩, the stem of the participle frāctus.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Christian word:[4][2] Jerome (c. 383–420)[5] and the Vulgate's Luke use it for the breaking of the bread, in fractio panis.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The liturgical sense, the breaking of the host at Mass, stayed central in Medieval Latin.[6] Jerome also used it figuratively of a broken heart (cordis fractio), and Gregory of Tours used the plural for attacks of fever.[7]

Medieval writers used it for almost any breaking: of a law or agreement (an infringement or breach),[8] of a ship (shipwreck), of a building (demolition),[9] for breaking in, for the refraction of rays and for the division of note values in music.[6] English fraction (late 14th century) came through Anglo-French and directly from the Late Latin word, first in the mathematical sense;[3] Medieval Latin also used it for a fragment or portion.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 383–420 AD – Jerome writes of the breaking of the bread.[4][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has in fractione panis in Luke.[4][2][5]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses the plural for bouts of fever.[7][5]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as fraction, in mathematics.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A breaking, breaking in pieces, especially the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist.[4][2][6]
  2. (Late Latin, plural) Bouts of fever.[7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) An infringement, a breach.[8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Destruction, demolition;[9] fractio navis, shipwreck.[9]
  5. (Medieval Latin, mathematics) A fraction.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Fractio.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fractio. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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