Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “refractory” come from?

Refractory comes from Latin refractarius, derived from Latin refractus, the past participle of refringere, meaning to break, from Latin re- and Proto-Indo-European bʰreg-.

refractory (English): Obstinate and unruly; strongly opposed to...

Definitions

  1. Obstinate and unruly; strongly opposed to...

Ancestry of “refractory”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinrefractārius—
2Latinrefractusbroken up or open
3Latinrefringeresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
4Latinrĕ-—
5Latinprōdūcō—
6Latinprō-—
7Proto-Italic*pro-—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
10Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “refractory”

  • refractoriness
  • chemorefractory
  • nonrefractory
  • photorefractoriness
  • refractorily
  • photorefractory
  • biorefractory
  • unrefractory
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →