Etymograph

English

fraktur

Fraktur comes from German Fraktur ‘Fraktur, a traditional German subgroup of…’, from Latin fractūra ‘breaking’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-1‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangō2‘to break, shatter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāctūrus2‘about to break or shatter (something)’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfractūra2‘breaking’
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentFraktur2‘Fraktur, a traditional German subgroup of black letter typefaces’
  6. Englishtodayfraktur2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin frango
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fraktur

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-Wiktionary, Latin frango‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangōWiktionary, English fraktur‘to break, shatter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāctūrusWiktionary, English fraktur‘about to break or shatter (something)’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfractūraWiktionary, English fraktur‘breaking’
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentFrakturWiktionary, English fraktur‘Fraktur, a traditional German subgroup of black letter typefaces’
  6. EnglishtodayfrakturWiktionary, English fraktur

The story

First appears c. 1886 as fractur, and c. 1904 as fraktur, from German Fraktur, from Latin frāctūra (“breaking”, noun), from frangere (‘to break’), past participle fractus.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’

break, broken, broke, brigade, bracket, fraction, brake, bray, suffrage, breech, frail, brogan, brogue, 34 more

through Latin frangō ‘to break, shatter’

fragile, refrain, fragment, fret, infringe, diffraction, infraction, fractal, refractory, refraction, 15 more

through Latin fractūra ‘breaking’

fracture

Today it means

noun A style of black letter type, used especially in German-speaking countries from the 16th century until World War II.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fraktur”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin frango. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- / fraktur

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