What is the Latin word for fragment?

The usual Latin words for “fragment” are fragmentum, fragmen, liber. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“fragment” in Latin

fragmentuma piece (broken off), remnant, fragment fragmena fracture; piece of a rock; fragments; ruins, wreck; chips liberbook; the inner bark of a tree

The English word fragment itself goes back to Latin frangō, through fragmentum.

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

fragment

fragmentum (portion broken off; poetically, fragmen: there is no classical authority for the use of this word for a fragment of anything that is not material; hence, though fragmenta codicum manuscriptorum, etc., would be correct for the actual parchment, etc., fragmenta orationis, libri, scriptoris alicujus, etc. would not: better reliquiae, pars non integra, quae restat [for partes non integrae quae restant] ex libro, qui periit, etc.). Fragments of a play of Menander’s, trunca quaedam ex Menandro (Gell., 2, 23, extr.). [Matthiae and Kraft recommend the retention of fragmentum as technical term].

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for fragment?: The usual Latin words for “fragment” are fragmentum, fragmen, liber. 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.