Etymologically
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fractio

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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