Etymology

fragile

fra·gil
F4R1A1G2I1L1E1

Today it means: Easily broken, not sturdy; of delicate material. Full definition →

Middle French fragile ← Latin fragilis
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromfragilis
  2. Middle French · borrowed fromfragile
  3. English todayfragile

Borrowed from Middle French fragile, from Latin fragilis, formed on frag-, the root of frangere (“to break”). Cognate with fraction, fracture and doublet of frail.

Words from the same roots

Latinfragilis all →

frail

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.