praefringo Latin · revision 36633

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *bʰr-n-ǵ-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praefringō''' (present infinitive praefringere, perfect active praefrēgī, supine praefrāctum); third conjugation^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ Manuscripts often drop the second ⟨r⟩, especially in Columella.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|prae-|frangō|t2=to break]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|frangō]] to [[itc-pro|*frang-]] and [[ine-pro|*bʰr-n-ǵ-|t=to break]], a nasal present.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[goh|brehhan|t=to break]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and the TLL record it from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) whose ''Miles Gloriosus'' has ''pugnō praefrēgistī bracchium'', “you broke the arm with your fist”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to break something at the end or along its length: Cato advises tying young vines often so that the stalks do not break,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Livy has spears broken or blunted.^(OLD 2012) It is also to break off the tip: Caesar has a ship's beak broken off, Livy one horn of a helmet, and Ovid a pine broken off and hurled at an enemy.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Seneca notes that straight things put in water look bent and broken.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The participle ''praefrāctus'' became an adjective: of style, abrupt, as Cicero calls Thucydides; of character, stern and unbending, as he calls Aristo of Chios.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Manuscripts often confuse the verb with ''perfringō''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of breaking an arm.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of vine stalks.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a ship's beak broken off.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of spears and of a helmet's horn.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|break]] at the end or along its length; to break to pieces.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To break off at the end, break off short.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The participle ''praefrāctus'' is used as an adjective, “abrupt” of style and “stern, inflexible” of character, with the adverb ''praefrāctē'', “obstinately”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}