English
frangible
Frangible comes from Middle English frangible ‘Able to be broken’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frangible‘Able to be broken’
- Englishearliest quotation 1734same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frangible‘Able to be broken’
- Englishearliest quotation 1734same form
Earliest quotation: 1734, GLASS: “A certain learned and curious Author gives us the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’
break, broken, broke, brigade, brake, bracket, fraction, bray, suffrage, breech, frail, brogan, brogue, 34 more
through Latin frangō ‘to break, shatter’
fracture, refrain, fragment, fragile, fret, diffraction, infringe, fractal, infraction, refractory, refraction, 15 more
Today it means
adj Able to be broken; breakable, fragile.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English frangible / frangible