fragility (English)

Where does "fragility" come from?

The English noun 'fragility' was borrowed from Middle French 'fragilité'[1], which descends from the Latin noun 'fragilitās'[1]. This Latin term was formed from the adjective 'fragilis' combined with the suffix '-tās'[3]. The root stretches back to Proto-Italic '*fragelis'[4], connected to the Latin verb root 'frag-' meaning to break[2]. Through these linguistic stages, the word evolved to encompass the quality of being brittle, physical weakness, and liability to error or sin.

Open questions

• The Proto-Italic form '*fragelis' is a linguistic reconstruction. [4]

Full etymology tree

• fragility (English), 'The condition or quality of being fragile; brittleness; frangibility.'
  • borrowed fragilité (Middle French)
    • inherited fragilitas (Latin), 'brittleness, fragility'

Ancestors

• fragilitas (Latin)
• fragile (English)

Cognates and doublets

• frailty (English)

Descendants and derived words

• antifragility (English)
• black fragility (English)
• fragility test (English)
• infragility (English)
• osmofragility (English)
• skin fragility syndrome (English)
• white fragility (English)

Sources

1. fragility (English) - Wiktionary
2. fragile (English) - Wiktionary
3. fragilitas (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. fragilis (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris