friable
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from French friable, from Latin friābilis (“friable”), from friō (“I crumble”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
friable (comparative more friable, superlative most friable)
- 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, Avignon Quintet edition, Faber & Faber, page 1020:
- This light, friable type of material offered excellent insulation against both desert heat and also the cold of darkness during the winter.
- (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.
- (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.
- (mathematics, of a number) Smooth: that factors completely into small prime numbers.
SynonymsEdit
- (easily broken into small fragments): crumbly
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or reduced to powder
|
loose and large-grained in consistency
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- friable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- friable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Inherited from Latin friābilis, from friō (“I crumble”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
friable (plural friables)
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “friable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
SpanishEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
friable (plural friables)
Further readingEdit
- “friable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014