infringo

Forms

īnfringō (present infinitive īnfringere, perfect active īnfrēgī, supine īnfrāctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + frangō (“to break”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan lists ⟨īnfringere⟩ among the compounds of ⟨frangō⟩ (from Plautus on), which he derives from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr-n-ǵ- (“to break”), cognate with Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus;^[4] the OLD's early examples include Terence, whose character complains that someone dealt him more than five hundred punches.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to break or shatter, as Lucretius' boars staining broken weapons with their blood, and also to bend, as an oar that looks broken in water.^[2] Cicero uses it of breaking up the rhythm of a sentence.^[2] It came to mean to weaken or impair, as Propertius' Venus who can break the strength of heroes, and to temper or reduce: Celsus speaks of fever that has abated, Tacitus of reduced taxes.^[2] Of power and persons it is to break, crush or make relent: Juno will not rest, “not broken by Jupiter's command or the fates”, and Cicero speaks of a spirit broken by calamity.^[2] It also means to foil an attempt.^[2]

Church Latin has it for infringe upon, break.^[5] English infringe (mid-15th century), “to violate”, is from it.^[6]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence of dealing blows.^[2][7]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius of breaking weapons.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a broken sentence and a broken spirit.^[2][7]
• mid-15th century – English infringe.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To break, crush, shatter; to snap the fingers; to bend; to break up a sentence.^[2][8][1][5]
2. To weaken, impair; to mitigate, reduce.^[2][1]
3. To break a person's power; to make relent; to break someone's spirit.^[2]
4. To make ineffective, foil.^[2]

Word family

• īnfrāctiō
• infractus

Related words

• frangō
• English infringe

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press