Etymologically
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infringo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ĩːˈfrɪŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iɱˈfriŋ.ɡo][1]

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

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