Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fragment” come from?

Fragment comes from Latin fragmentum, derived from Latin frangere meaning "to break," which traces to Proto-Indo-European bʰreg- with the same sense.

fragment (English): A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an...

Definitions

  1. A part broken off; a small, detached portion; an...

Ancestry of “fragment”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchfragmentfragment
2Latinfragmentuma piece , remnant, fragment
3Latin-mentuminstrument, medium, or result of; e.g....
4Latin-mentanominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural...
5Proto-Indo-European-mn̥Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs

Words derived from “fragment”

  • fragmentation
  • fragmentary
  • defragmentation
  • fragmental
  • fragmentarily
  • defragment
  • fragmentariness
  • interfragmentary
  • defrag
  • defragmenter
  • subfragment
  • photofragmentation
  • fragmenter
  • multifragmentation
  • fragmentable
  • fragmentally
  • photofragment
  • fragmentize
  • fragmentography
  • refragmentation
  • unfragmentable
  • fragmentization
  • defragger
  • fragmentist
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mn̥ →