Etymologically
Log in

fragilis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 12:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfra.ɡɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfraː.d͡ʒi.lis][1]

Forms

fragilis (neuter fragile, comparative fragilior); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] The ablative singular is fragilī; the vulgar spelling fragele appears in an inscription.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin frangō (“to break”) + -ilis,[3][1][2] from Proto-Italic *fragelis according to Wiktionary.[1] De Vaan derives ⟨frangō⟩ from Proto-Italic *frang-, a nasal present Proto-Indo-European *bʰr-n-ǵ- (“to break”), cognate with Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break”) and Old High German brehhan (“to break”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and Köbler date it from Accius,[2][5] who has the superlative;[3] de Vaan gives Lucretius as its first author.[4]

Semantic evolution

Of things it is liable to break, brittle: Virgil's boy could just reach the brittle branches from the ground.[3] Virgil also uses it of laurels that crackle in the fire.[3] It came to be used of what is weak or frail, as Horace's frail boat entrusted to a savage sea, of the mind and of the frail years of age.[3] Of circumstances it is unsure and passing: Cicero says nothing is so fragile as the goodwill of the citizens.[3] Lewis and Short note that the figurative uses are especially frequent.[6]

Church Latin uses it for weak, frail.[7] English has it twice: frail (mid-14th century) through Old French fraile, and fragile, first “liable to sin” (1510s) and “liable to break” about 1600.[8]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of brittle branches and crackling laurels.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the frailty of goodwill.[3][5]
  • mid-14th century – English frail, through Old French.[8]
  • 1510s – English fragile.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Easily broken, brittle, fragile.[3][6][1]
  2. Crackling, snapping.[3]
  3. Weak, flimsy, frail; of the mind, unstable; of life, marked by frailty.[3][1][7]
  4. Not lasting, uncertain, transient.[3][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com