Etymology

fraction

frac·tion
F4R1A1C3T1I1O1N1

Today it means: A part of a whole, especially a comparatively small part. Full definition →

Middle English fraccioun ← Old French fraccion
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The story

  1. Old Frenchfraccion
  2. Middle Englishfraccioun
  3. English todayfraction

From Middle English fraccioun (“a breaking”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French fraccion, from Medieval Latin fractio (“a fragment, portion”), from earlier Latin fractio (“a breaking, a breaking into pieces”), from fractus, past participle of frangere (“to break”) (whence English frangible), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (English break). Doublet of frazione.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*bʰreg- all →

breakfracturebraybrackenfrangibleforbreakirrefragableregmacarp

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.