different between friable vs fragile

English

Etymology

From Latin fri?bilis, from fri? (“to crumble”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: fr?'?-b?l, IPA^(key): /?f?a??bl?/
• Rhymes: -a??b?l
• Homophone: fryable

Adjective

friable (comparative more friable, superlative most friable)

1. Easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or reduced to powder.
   • 1977, Angela Carter, The Passion of New Eve:

     Spiders had woven their vague trapezes between the friable heads of dead peonies in enormous glass jars streaked with tide marks where the water had evaporated long ago.

   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1020:

     This light, friable type of material offered excellent insulation against both desert heat and also the cold of darkness during the winter.

2. (of soil) Loose and large-grained in consistency.
   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough:

     So while two men under his directions were digging the grave with sticks in the friable granitic soil, he superintended the costume of the other actors in the drama.

3. (of poisons) Likely to crumble and become airborne, thus becoming a health risk
   • April 1987, Old-House Journal

     It is when asbestos-containing products are friable that hazardous asbestos fibers are likely to be released and sent airborne.

4. (mathematics, of a number) Smooth: that factors completely into small prime numbers.

Synonyms

• (easily broken into small fragments): crumbly

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• brittle

References

• friable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• friable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• fabrile, firable, lifebar

French

Etymology

Latin fri?bilis, from fri? (“to crumble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?i.jabl/
• Homophone: friables
• Hyphenation: fri?able

Adjective

friable (plural friables)

1. crumbly
2. crummy, pitiful

Derived terms

• friabilité

References

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

Spanish

Adjective

friable (plural friables)

1. friable, crumbly

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