Etymograph

English

fricative

Fricative comes from Latin fricō ‘to rub’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreyH-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰriH-o-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*frios1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfriō2‘to crumble, rub, or break into pieces’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfricō3as fricāre‘to rub’
  6. New Latinc. 1500–1900fricatīvus3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1953fricative3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin frio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin frico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English fricative
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt: “Watt listened for a time, for the voice was…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreyH-Wiktionary, Latin frio‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰriH-o-sWiktionary, Latin frioreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*friosWiktionary, Latin frioreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfriōWiktionary, Latin frico‘to crumble, rub, or break into pieces’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfricōWiktionary, English fricativeas fricāre‘to rub’
  6. New Latinc. 1500–1900fricatīvusWiktionary, English fricative
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1953fricativeWiktionary, English fricative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt: “Watt listened for a time, for the voice was…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- ‘to cut’

fray, frivolous, briny, frivolity, 4 more

through Latin friō ‘to crumble, rub, or break into pieces’

friable, 3 more

through Latin fricō ‘to rub’

friction, frayed, 3 more

Today it means

noun Any of several speech sounds produced by air flowing through a constriction in the oral cavity and typically producing a sibilant, hissing, or buzzing quality; a fricative consonant.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fricative”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin frio, Latin frico. 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 *bʰreyH- / fricative

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