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

  1. Given to troublemaking; Irritable; argumentative;...

Ancestry of “fractious”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ousUsed to form adjectives from nouns, to denote...
2Middle English-ous—
3Old French-us-ous, used for forming adjectives
4Latin-ōsusose, -ous, -ful (full of or overly prone to)
5Old Latin-ōssus—

Words derived from “fractious”

Every word from Old Latin -ōssus →Every word from Latin -ōsus →Every word from English -ous →