fraus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfrau̯s]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfrau̯s]^[1]

Forms

fraus f (genitive fraudis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *frawV-, of uncertain origin.^[2] Schrijver derives it from a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰru-, seen in Sanskrit ध्रुति (dhrúti, “deception”) and Avestan drāuuaiiāt̰ (“will deceive”), with a suffix that remains unclear.^[2][3] Szemerényi derived it from *dʰreugʰ- “to deceive”, the root of Old High German triogan (“to deceive”), but de Vaan finds the sound changes he needs ad hoc.^[2][4] frūstrā “in vain” is from the same base, and Umbrian frosetom (“made void?”) may be related.^[2][5] The old dative frūdī in Lucretius shows a variant stem.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables.^[2] Köbler dates them to about 450 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Its oldest sense was harm, damage, danger, sine fraude “without harm”, then liability to punishment, and wrongdoing, a crime.^[4] From there it came to mean dishonest conduct, deceit, guile, a fraud or trick, as Plautus' man “full of fraud, crime and perjury”, and fraudulent evasion of a law, legī fraudem facere.^[4] It also meant a delusion of the mind, in the phrase in fraudem incidere.^[4] Cicero names Fraus as a personified deity.^[6]

English fraud came through Old French in the mid-14th century, and the word was already used in Anglo-Latin in the mid-13th.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.^[2][7]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of guile and of evading a law.^[4][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius has the dative frūdī.^[4][7]
• mid-14th century – Borrowed into English as fraud.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Harm, damage, danger, sine fraude, unharmed.^[4]
2. Liability to punishment.^[4]
3. Wrongdoing, an offence, a crime.^[4]
4. Deceit, guile; a fraud, trick.^[4]
5. Fraudulent evasion (of a law or obligation).^[4]
6. A delusion, snare of the mind.^[4]

Word family

• fraudiger
• fraudō
• fraudulentus
• fraudātiō
• fraudātor
• fraudātōrius
• fraudulenter
• fraudulentia
• fraudulōsus

Related words

• fraudor
• frūstrā
• English fraud
• English frustrate

References

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