frenum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfreː.nũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfrɛː.num]^[1]

Forms

frēnum n (genitive frēnī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *frēno-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰr-eh₁-no- (“holding”), from the root *dʰer- “to hold”.^[2][1] Walde and Hofmann connected it with frētus “relying on”, while Ernout and Meillet proposed *freds-no-, from frendō “to gnash”, “what horses chew on”, which de Vaan thinks possible but not straightforward.^[2] The masculine plural frēnī, usual in prose, may continue an old dual ending.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Accius, who has men fit bridles to the horses' mouths.^[2][3][4] Köbler dates Accius 170–c. 90 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a horse's bridle, with the reins and bit, and in many phrases figuratively a restraint: frēnōs recipere “to submit to the bridle”, and Cicero's frēnum mordēre “to take the bit between one's teeth”.^[4][5] It was used as a check or curb on people and passions, and by transfer of ties that hold masonry together and, in medicine, of a retaining ligament.^[4]

It survives in Italian freno, French frein and Spanish freno, and refrēnō “to curb” gave English refrain in the mid-14th century.^[1][6] Anatomy took English frenum for a fold that restrains an organ in 1741.^[6]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius has horses bridled.^[4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of taking the bit between one's teeth.^[5][3]
• mid-14th century – English refrain is recorded.^[6]
• 1741 – English frenum is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bridle, bit, harness.^[4]
2. frēnōs recipere, to submit to the bridle.^[4]
3. A restraint, curb.^[4]
4. A tie (in masonry), (medicine) a ligament.^[4]

Word family

• effrēnis
• effrēnus
• frēniger
• frēnō
• infrēnis
• infrēnus

Related words

• frēnātiō
• frēnātor
• frētus
• English refrain

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes frēnum, the bridle by which the rider breaks a wild horse, from habēna, the rein by which he turns an obedient one.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper