Etymograph

English

frangible

Frangible may come from Middle French frangible ‘breakable’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-1‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangō1‘to break, shatter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangere1
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600frangible1‘breakable’uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frangible1‘Able to be broken’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1734frangible1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English frangible
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1734, GLASS: “A certain learned and curious Author gives us the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-Wiktionary, English frangible‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangōWiktionary, English frangible‘to break, shatter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangereWiktionary, English frangible
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600frangibleWiktionary, English frangible‘breakable’uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frangibleWiktionary, English frangible‘Able to be broken’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1734frangibleWiktionary, English frangible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “frangible”. 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- / frangible

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