fragile

Where does the word "fragile" come from? It comes from Latin fragilis, passing through French before entering English (1510s).

Fragile’s story begins in Latin: fragilis meant “breakable.” From 'frangere', to break, the root of 'fraction' and 'fracture'. By 1400s, the word had taken hold in French as fragile. The native French form of the same word became 'frêle', frail. It reached English by 1510s as fragile. 'frail' is the older form of the same word. Today, fragile means easily broken.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient fragilis "breakable", from 'frangere', to break, the root of 'fraction' and 'fracture'.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1400s fragile "breakable", the native French form of the same word became 'frêle', frail.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1510s fragile "breakable", 'frail' is the older form of the same word.