Where does “friable” come from?
Friable comes from Latin friabilis, formed from the Proto-Indo-European root bʰreyH- meaning "to break" plus the suffix -bilis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlis and -dʰlom.
friable (English): Easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or...
Definitions
- Easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or...
Ancestry of “friable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | friable | crumbly; crummy, pitiful |
| 2 | Latin | friābilis | friable, easily crumbled or broken into pieces |
| 3 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | Forms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |