friable
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French friable, from Latin friābilis (“friable”), from friō (“I crumble”).
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: frī'ə-bəl, IPA(key): /ˈfɹaɪəbl̩/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪəbəl
- Homophone: fryable
Adjective edit
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, published 2004, 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.
Synonyms edit
- (easily broken into small fragments): crumbly
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or reduced to powder
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loose and large-grained in consistency
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- 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
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See also edit
References edit
- “friable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “friable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Latin friābilis, from friō (“to crumble”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
friable (plural friables)
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “friable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
friable m or f (masculine and feminine plural friables)
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “friable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014