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frac·ture

(frăkchər)

a. The act or process of breaking.

b. The condition of having been broken or ruptured: "a sudden and irreparable fracture of the established order" (W. Bruce Lincoln).

2. A break, rupture, or crack, especially in bone or cartilage.

3. Mineralogy

a. The characteristic manner in which a mineral breaks.

b. The characteristic appearance of the surface of a broken mineral.

4. Geology A crack or fault in a rock.

v. frac·tured, frac·tur·ing, frac·tures

v.tr.

a. To cause to break: The impact of the fall fractured the bone. See Synonyms at break.

b. To undergo a break in (a bone): He fractured his ankle in the fall.

2. To disrupt or destroy as if by breaking: fractured the delicate balance of power.

3. To abuse or misuse flagrantly, as by violating rules: ignorant writers who fracture the language.

4. Slang To cause to laugh heartily: "Jack Benny fractured audiences ... for more than 50 years" (Newsweek).

v.intr.

To undergo a fracture.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin frāctūra, from frāctus, past participle of frangere, to break; see bhreg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

(click for a larger image)

fracture

left to right: transverse, oblique, and greenstick fractures

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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