LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
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“break” in Latin

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

break
frangere, rumpere (frangere, to break to pieces what is hard; rumpere, to rend to pieces what is fiexible: when applied to anything hard, rompere implies exertion and danger: membrum rumpere, os frangere. Catullus, ap. Prisc., in breaking a limb the rending of the flesh being the thing seen, Döderlein’s Synonyms): diffringere (to break asunder): confringere (to break into small pieces): disrumpere (to burst asunder what was originally entire): divellere (to tear asunder what was at first joined together). To break the arm, hip. etc., frangere brachium, coxam. etc. I will break his neck, frangam ejus cervicem. To break a man’s head, diminuere caput or cerebrum alicui. To break at the end, praefringere. To break small, conterere, comminuere, contundere. His misfortune breaks my heart, casu ejus frangor. To break a lance with one, cum aliquo in certamen descendere. INTR., frangi, confringi; rumpi, dirumpi; scindi (to split). The waves break upon the rock, fluctus a saxo franguntur, ductus frangit scopulus. My heart breaks, dirumpor dolore.
Bring to yield, tame, subdue, frangere, infringere; vincere, domare. Break the obstinacy of a man, infringere alicujus ferociam. Break a horse, equum domare. Break a man’s power, alicujus potentiam infringere, frangere aliquem.
The cold breaks (lessens), frigus minuitur, frangitur, se frangit (not rumpitur or se rurapit). The clouds break, nubes rumpunt, rumpuntur (not frangunt, se frangunt, or franguntur). [Vid: “break up,” below.]
Weaken, crush. etc., debilitare, infirmum reddere; minuere, imminuere, comminuere; frangere, conficere, affligere. Broken in body and mind, confectus corpore et animo. My strength is broken, vires me deficiunt, debilitor et frangor. I am broken, non sum, qualis eram. To break the power of the enemy, hostium vim pervertere. Our broken circumstances, res fractae, fractae opes.
To break off, violate, put an end to, frangere, rumpere. Break the silence, silentium rumpere, silentii finem facere. To break his fast, cibum capere, sumere: solvere jejunium; (breakfast) jentare. To break sleep, somnum interrumpere. To break off an intimacy gradually, amicitiam remissione usus eluere, amicitiam dissuere. non descindere (Cic.). To break his word, fidem frangere, violare; fidem prodere. To break laws, leges perrumpere, violare, a legibus discedere (rumpere, poetical). Break his oath, jusjurandum non servare, non conservare. Break friendship, amicitiam violare, dissolvere, dirumpere. To break with one, ab amicitia alicujus se removere, amicitiam alicujus dimittere.
To make unconnected, frangere, interrumpere. Broken words, voces interruptae. A broken voice, vox fracta. They break the ranks, ordines perturbant. The clouds break, nubes discutiuntur, sol inter nubes effulget.
To break a man. i. e., make him bankrupt, aliquem evertere bonis or fortunis omnibus; perdere aliquem. To break, i. e., became bankrupt, cedere foro, conturbare, corruere, cadere, nanfragium omnium fortunarum facere.
To break, i. e., disclose, aperire, patefacere, detegere; (propose) proponere.
To break, i. e., refract, refringere.
To break open itself (of a sore), rumpi.
Appear gradually, apptere. Day breaks, dies appetit; lucescit, dilucescit, illucescit.
To break into tears, lacrimae prorumpunt, erumpunt: into a laugh, in cachinnos or risus effundi, risum tollere.
To break a man’s fall, aliquem (cadentem) excipere.
To break ground (plough), agrum proscindere.
To break wind (upward), ructare: (downward) pedere.
To break asunder, confringere, perfringere, frangere, dirumpere.
To break down, destruere, demoliri, diruere; intercidere, interscindere (a bridge, pontem): INTR., corruere, collabi. FIG., debilitare, infirmare: minuere, comminuere; frangere, affligere, pessum dare, perdere: INTR., debilitari. etc.; in pejus mutari, pessum ire.
To break from, se abripere, eripere, abstrahere, avellere; erumpere. To break from prison, vincula carceris rumpere.
To break in upon, interrumpere, turbare. To break into, irrumpere, irruere: a house, domum perfringere. To break the door in, januam effringere.
To break off, defringere; decerpere; avellere: INTR., frangi, praefringi. flowers, decerpere flores: the point of the spear, praefringere hastam.
FIG., to break off friendship, amicitiam dirumpere, discindere: a conversation, sermonem incidere. abrumpere. To break off in the midst of a speech, praecidere (absolutely). But I break off, sed satis de hoc. To break off from a thing, aliquid abjicere, desistere re or de re. Here the road breaks off, hic via finem capit.
To break open, effringere, refringere, moliri (e.g., fores); resignare, solvere (litteras, epistolam): INTR., rumpi, dehiscere; scindi (of the skin): recrudescere (of wounds, break open afresh): (of flowers) utriculum rumpere, florem aperire.
To break out, erumpere; vincula (carceris) rumpere: figuratively, erumpere; exardescere. A war breaks out, bellum ingruit, exoritur. Diseases break out among the rowers, morbi ingruunt in remiges. To break out (with the mange, with boils, etc.), scabie, pustulis, etc., infici.
To break through the wall of a house, parietem perfodere: the door, effringere fores: the enemy, per medium hostium aciem perrumpere.
To break up (into pieces), diffringere; comminuere, conterere, contundere. To break up an army, milites dimittere. To break up school, house. etc., *scholam, femiliam, dimittere. To break up the cold frigus solvere, dissolvere, resolvere. To break up land, agrum occare; agrum proscindere. I will break up this habit of yours, adimam tibi hanc consuetudinem. To break up (dissolve itself), solvi, dissolvi. resolvi.
break s.
ruptum, scissum; rima: (space) intervallum, spatium interjectum.
Of day, prima lux; diluculum. At break of day, ubi primum illuxit, prima luce, primo diluculo (cum), diluculo. Before daybreak, ante lucem: taking place then, antelucanus. From daybreak, a prima luce.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for break?
The usual Latin words for “break” are frangō, rumpō, diffringō; also cōnfringō, dīvellō, īnfringō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.