fragmentum Latin · revision 36516

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius|origins=la frangō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [fraɡˈmɛn.tũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [fraɡˈmɛn.tum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fragmentum''' ''n'' (genitive fragmentī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|frangō|-mentum|t1=to break|t2=noun suffix]],^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) formed like [[m|la|fragmen]], which has the same meaning.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*frang-]], from the nasal present [[ine-pro|*bhr-n-ǵ-|t=to break]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first attested in Lucilius,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses ''fragmenta'' of bread, in the sense of crumbs.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it is a piece broken off something, mostly in the plural:^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero has a fragment of stone and the broken pieces of the voting enclosures used as weapons, Livy pieces of roof tiles and of branches.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Celsus used it for a splinter of bone,^(Georges 1913) and Lucan applied it figuratively to the remains of a defeated army.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Christian Latin it is the word for the leftover pieces of bread in the gospel accounts of the feeding of the multitude, where the Vulgate speaks of twelve baskets full of fragments;^(TLL) Bede and later British writers echo the passage, and medieval writers used it for scraps and remnants in general.^(DMLBS) English borrowed it in the early 15th century as [[m|en|fragment]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it for pieces of bread.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a fragment of stone.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of broken roof tiles and branches.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has twelve baskets of fragments in Matthew.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 15th century – English borrows it as ''fragment''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece broken off, a [[m|en|fragment]];^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) ''(plural)'' broken pieces, [[m|en|debris]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(plural)'' [[m|en|crumb|alt=Crumbs]] or scraps of food, leftovers.^(Georges 1913)^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A remnant.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|fragment]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}