Etymologically
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fragmentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fraɡˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fraɡˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

fragmentum n (genitive fragmentī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin frangō (“to break”) + -mentum (“noun suffix”),[1][2] formed like fragmen, which has the same meaning.[3] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *frang-, from the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *bhr-n-ǵ- (“to break”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first attested in Lucilius,[4][5] who uses fragmenta of bread, in the sense of crumbs.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is a piece broken off something, mostly in the plural:[7] Cicero has a fragment of stone and the broken pieces of the voting enclosures used as weapons, Livy pieces of roof tiles and of branches.[7][6] Celsus used it for a splinter of bone,[6] and Lucan applied it figuratively to the remains of a defeated army.[7][6]

In Christian Latin it is the word for the leftover pieces of bread in the gospel accounts of the feeding of the multitude, where the Vulgate speaks of twelve baskets full of fragments;[8] Bede and later British writers echo the passage, and medieval writers used it for scraps and remnants in general.[9] English borrowed it in the early 15th century as fragment.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it for pieces of bread.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a fragment of stone.[7][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of broken roof tiles and branches.[7][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has twelve baskets of fragments in Matthew.[8][5]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as fragment.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A piece broken off, a fragment;[3][7][6] (plural) broken pieces, debris.[3][7][6]
  2. (plural) Crumbs or scraps of food, leftovers.[6][9]
  3. (figurative) A remnant.[7][6]
  • English fragment

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b 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