infractio

Forms

īnfrāctiō f (genitive īnfrāctiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin īnfringō (“to break, weaken”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the Tusculan Disputations in the phrase infractio animi, a crushed or broken spirit, which he pairs with demissio, despondency.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it was also used of a physical breaking: Augustine speaks of the illusory “breaking” of an oar seen in water,^[3] and the grammarian Priscian has it for a breaking to pieces.^[4][3]

In Medieval Latin it became a legal term for forcible entry and burglary, for the fine paid for it, and for the breach of a peace, an immunity or a law.^[5][6] British sources also use it for the fracture of a limb, the breaking of the voice, and, in infractio jejunii, the breaking of a fast, that is breakfast.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses infractio animi for a broken spirit.^[2][8]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of the apparent bending of an oar.^[3][8]
• 6th century AD – Priscian uses it for a breaking to pieces.^[4][8]
• 1480 – A Canterbury account uses infractio jejunii for breakfast.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A breaking, weakening (of the spirit).^[2][4]
2. (Late Latin) A breaking or bending (of a thing).^[3][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) Forcible entry, burglary; the fine paid for it.^[5][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) A breach, violation (of the peace, an immunity, a law).^[5][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A fracture (of a limb).^[7][6]
6. (Medieval Latin) infractio jejunii: the breaking of a fast, breakfast.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e 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
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de