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infractus

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infractus1 broken

Forms

īnfrāctus (feminine īnfrācta, neuter īnfrāctum, comparative īnfrāctior); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin īnfringō (“to break, weaken”),[1][2][3] a compound of in- and frangō (“to break”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is in Lucretius, of the coaxing, broken speech of a nurse (almae nutricis blanda atque infracta loquela).[1]

Semantic evolution

Besides the senses of the verb, it is used chiefly of speech and style.[1] It means broken or disjointed, as in Cicero's description of speakers who use broken, chopped-off phrases; then lacking manly vigour, mincing, as Seneca the Elder and Seneca use it of an affected style and Gellius of a voice; and also humble or subdued in tone, as in Livy's account of a speech that was submissive and subdued.[1] Quintilian uses it of a dejected manner in perorations.[1]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of broken speech.[1][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the neuter plural for broken phrases.[1][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a subdued speech.[1][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Broken, weakened.[1][4]
  2. (of speech) Broken, disjointed.[1]
  3. (of style or voice) Lacking vigour, mincing, effeminate.[1]
  4. Humble, subdued in tone.[1]

infractus2 unbroken

Forms

īnfrāctus (feminine īnfrācta, neuter īnfrāctum); first/second-declension adjective[2][5]

Etymology

The adjective “unbroken” is from Latin in- (“not”) + frāctus (“broken”),[6][2][5][3] with the negative prefix; the grammarian Agroecius noted that ⟨in-⟩ could mean both “in” and “not”, as in this word.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Georges and Gaffiot cite a fragment of Plautus preserved by Paulus' epitome of Festus for the sense “unbroken” (clunes infractos fero).[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it is used figuratively of people and spirits that cannot be broken, undaunted: Symmachus writes that broken fortunes found unbroken spirits (fractae opes infractos animos reppererunt).[6][2][4] Martianus Capella and Gregory the Great use it in the same way, the latter of Job, who remained unbroken in adversity.[6] Medieval Latin keeps the sense “unbeaten, not cast down”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in a fragment.[2][3]
  • c. 340–402 AD – Symmachus speaks of unbroken spirits.[6][3]
  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it.[6][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Unbroken.[2][5]
  2. (Late Latin) Undaunted, indomitable.[6][4][7]

Usage notes

A rare noun īnfrāctus, -ūs, “a breaking”, formed from īnfringō, appears in the grammarians Probus and Priscian.[6][2][5]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill