different between fragile vs volatile

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French fragile, from Latin fragilis, formed on frag-, the root of frangere (“to break”). Cognate fraction, fracture and doublet of frail.

Pronunciation

• (UK, General Australian, Canada) IPA^(key): /?f?æd?a?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?f?æd??l/
• Rhymes: -æd??l

Adjective

fragile (comparative fragiler or more fragile, superlative fragilest or most fragile)

1. Easily broken or destroyed, and thus often of subtle or intricate structure.

   The chemist synthesizes a fragile molecule.

   The UN tries to maintain the fragile peace process in the region.

   He is a very fragile person and gets easily depressed.

2. (Britain) Feeling weak or easily disturbed as a result of illness.

Synonyms

• friable
• breakly
• breakable
• destroyable
• destructible
• See also Thesaurus:fragile

Antonyms

• durable
• unbreakable
• undestroyable
• indestructible
• antifragile

Derived terms

• fragilely

Related terms

• fractal
• fraction
• fractional
• fracture
• fragility
• frail
• frailty
• frangible

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fragilis. Doublet of frêle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?a.?il/
• Homophone: fragiles

Adjective

fragile (plural fragiles)

1. fragile

Related terms

• fragiliser
• fragilité

Further reading

• “fragile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• giflera

German

Adjective

fragile

1. inflection of fragil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

From Latin fragilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fra.d??i.le/
• Hyphenation: frà?gi?le

Adjective

fragile (plural fragili)

1. fragile

Derived terms

• fragilmente
• infragilire

Related terms

• frale
• fragilità

Further reading

• fragile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Adjective

fragile

1. nominative neuter singular of fragilis
2. accusative neuter singular of fragilis
3. vocative neuter singular of fragilis

English

Etymology

From Middle French volatile, from Latin vol?tilis (“flying; swift; temporary; volatile”), from vol? (“I fly”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?v?l.?.tl?/, /?v?l.??ta?.?l/, [?v?.l?.???]
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?v?l.??ta?.(?)l/

Adjective

volatile (comparative more volatile, superlative most volatile)

2. (physics) Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
3. (of a substance, informal) Explosive.
4. (of a price etc) Variable or erratic.
5. (of a person) Quick to become angry or violent.

6. Fickle.
7. Temporary or ephemeral.
8. (of a situation) Potentially violent.
9. (computing, of a variable) Having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.
10. (computing, of memory) Whose content is lost when the computer is powered down
11. (obsolete) Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral

Derived terms

• volatility
• volatile memory

Translations

Noun

volatile (plural volatiles)

1. A chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?.la.til/

Adjective

volatile

1. feminine singular of volatil
2. Alternative spelling of volatil, as a masculine singular

Noun

volatile m (plural volatiles)

1. fowl, bird

Further reading

• “volatile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

volatile

1. inflection of volatil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

From Latin vol?tilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vo?la.ti.le/

Adjective

volatile (plural volatili)

1. (chemistry, physics) volatile
2. flying

   Synonym: volante

Noun

volatile m (plural volatili)

1. bird, fowl

   Synonym: uccello

Further reading

• volatile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /u?o?la?.ti.le/, [u?????ä?t?????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /vo?la.ti.le/, [v??l??t?il?]

Adjective

vol?tile

1. nominative neuter singular of vol?tilis
2. accusative neuter singular of vol?tilis
3. vocative neuter singular of vol?tilis

References

• volatile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)