English
fracture
Fracture comes from Latin frāctūra ‘a breach, fracture, cleft’, from frāctūrus ‘about to break or shatter (something)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-‘to break’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangō‘to break, shatter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāctūrus‘about to break or shatter (something)’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāctūra‘a breach, fracture, cleft’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fracture
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 2013same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-‘to break’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangō‘to break, shatter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāctūrus‘about to break or shatter (something)’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāctūra‘a breach, fracture, cleft’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fracture
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 2013same form
Earliest quotation: 2013, Frank De Blase: “You fracture me, Frankie,” Patsy said. “You should take…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’
break, broken, broke, brigade, brake, bracket, bray, suffrage, frail, breech, brogan, brogue, 37 more
through Latin frangō ‘to break, shatter’
fragile, fragment, refrain, infringe, fret, diffraction, infraction, refractory, refraction, 17 more
Today it means
noun An instance of breaking, a place where something has broken.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- / fracture