Etymologically
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fraus

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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
  • 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