Where does “fractious” come from?
Fractious comes from Middle English -ous, Old French -eux, and Latin -osus combined with Latin -tio, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰreg- meaning to break.
fractious (English): Given to troublemaking; Irritable; argumentative;...
Definitions
- Given to troublemaking; Irritable; argumentative;...
Ancestry of “fractious”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ous | Used to form adjectives from nouns, to denote... |
| 2 | Middle English | -ous | — |
| 3 | Old French | -us | -ous, used for forming adjectives |
| 4 | Latin | -ōsus | — |
| 5 | Old Latin | -ōssus | — |
Words derived from “fractious”