fractus Latin · revision 32416

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *bʰr-n-ǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfraːk.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfrak.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''frāctus''' (feminine frācta, neuter frāctum, comparative frāctior, superlative frāctissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the participle of [[m|la|frangō|t=to break]], used as an adjective.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces [[m|la|frangō]] to [[itc-pro|*frang-]], with a participle [[m|itc-pro|*fragto-]], and to [[ine-pro|*bʰr-n-ǵ-|t=to break]], comparing [[goh|brehhan|t=to break]]; the long ⟨ā⟩ of frāctus is due to Lachmann's law.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who speaks of broken and empty threats.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used in the senses of the verb, it is first broken.^(OLD 2012) Of ground it is broken or rugged, as Martial's broken hills, and of sounds rough or grating, as the bees in Virgil whose humming imitates the broken notes of trumpets.^(OLD 2012) Of style it is abrupt or jerky, in Seneca the Elder.^(OLD 2012) Of people and their fortunes it is exhausted, powerless or ruined, and broken in spirit: Cicero reports those who said he was too crushed and dejected.^(OLD 2012) Of gestures and speech it is effeminate or affected, as the loose and mincing movements Cicero describes.^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary adds harsh or sour.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of empty threats, of a crushed spirit and of effeminate gestures.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the broken notes of trumpets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial of broken hills.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|broken|alt=Broken]]; of ground, rugged; of sounds, rough, grating; of style, jerky.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Exhausted, [[m|en|feeble]], powerless; of fortunes, ruined.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Broken in spirit, crushed, [[m|en|dejected]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|effeminate|alt=Effeminate]], affected.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Harsh, sour.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[frāctiō]]

+ * [[frangō]]

+ * [[frangibilis]]

+ * [[fractura|alt=frāctūra]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A noun frāctus, -ūs, “a breaking”, is found only in a grammatical text that goes under the name of Probus.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}