English
infringe
Infringe comes from Latin īnfringō ‘to break off, break, bruise, weaken, destroy’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-‘to break’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangōas frangere‘to break’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfringō‘to break off, break, bruise, weaken, destroy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1789infringe
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-‘to break’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangōas frangere‘to break’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnfringō‘to break off, break, bruise, weaken, destroy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1789infringe
Earliest quotation: 1789, Second Amendment to the United States Co: “A well regulated Militia, being neceſsary to the security…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’
break, broken, broke, brake, bracket, fraction, brigade, bray, frail, suffrage, breech, brogan, brogue, 35 more
through Latin frangō ‘to break’
fragile, fracture, fragment, refrain, fret, diffraction, fractal, refractory, refraction, infraction, 16 more
Today it means
verb To break or violate a treaty, a law, a right, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- / infringe