noun · neutersecond declension
frēnum
frēnum n (genitive frēnī)
Classical[ˈfreː.nũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈfrɛː.num]
Meaning
- bridle, harness, curb, bit
Nōn faciunt meliōrem equum aureī frēnī.
Golden bridles do not make a better horse.65 CE, Lucius Annaeus Seneca Minor, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium. Epistle XLIcircumagere frēnīs equōs
to reverse the direction of horses by the bridle - means of guiding or governing; restraint, check, limit
- poetichorse, steed, charger
- obsoleterareusuallythat which holds things together; band
- usuallyligament which attaches the inside of the foreskin to the glans
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
lōra quibus equus regiturfrēna -ōrum (n pl) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 13
ferrum quod equus in ōre geritfrēnum -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 5, 21
bridle, bit
frēnum -ī (n) — in De Bello Gallico III
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Frenum · Habena · Oreæ
1. Frenum (from φράξαι?) is the bridle with which the rider breaks the wild horse, like χαλινός; whereas habena (from hebes, χαβός, κάμψαι,) the rein with which he turns the obedient horse, like ἡνίον. Hor. Ep. i. 15, 13. Læva stomachosus habena dicet eques; sed equi frenato est auris in ore; that is, he minds not the reins, and must feel the bit. Cic. Orat. i. 53. Senatum servire populo, cui populus ipse moderandi et regendi sui potestatem quasi quasdam habenas tradidisset: comp. with Tac. Dial. 38. Pompeius adstrinxit, imposuitque quasi frenos eloquentiæ. 2. Oreæ, aureæ, now only to be found in auriga, were, perhaps, the generic term of frenum and habena, like harness. (v. 137.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | frēnum | frēna frēnī |
| genitive | frēnī | frēnōrum |
| dative | frēnō | frēnīs |
| accusative | frēnum | frēna frēnōs |
| ablative | frēnō | frēnīs |
| vocative | frēnum | frēna frēnī |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- frenos dare equo
- to give a horse the reins.
- frenos adhibere alicui
- to restrain some one.
- freno remisso; effusis habenis
- with loose reins.
frēnum or fraenum, i, n., and more freq. (cf. Neue, Formenl. 1, 567; and
I. v. infra), plur. heterocl. frēni, ōrum, m., and mostly poet. frēna, ōrum, n. root dhar-; Sanscr. dhar-ā-mi, hold, support; Gr. θρα-, in θρῆνυς, θρόνος; Lat. frētus, a bridle, curb, bit (syn.: lupi, lupata).
I. Lit.
(a). Plur.:
aurei freni, Curt. 4, 13 med.; so nom. freni, id. 7, 10 fin.; cf. under II.; acc. frena, Verg. A. 4, 135; 5, 818; Ov. M. 15, 519; id. Am. 3, 4, 16: non domito frenos ore momordit equus, Tib. 1, 3, 42; so, frenos: equus, equa, quae frenos recipere solet, Cic. Top. 8, 36; Varr. R. R. 2, 7, 12; Verg. G. 3, 184; Liv. 1, 48, 6; Sen. Tranq. 15 fin. al.: moderarier hunc (equum) frenis, Lucr. 5, 1298; so, frenis, id. 5, 1317; Verg. A. 11, 719; 889; 12, 372; Hor. S. 1, 1, 91; Ov. M. 5, 643; Liv. 1, 14 fin.: equum cogere frenos pati, Phaedr. 4, 3, 9: frenos et strata equorum Pelethronium (invenisse), Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 202 et saep.—(b). Sing.:
frenumque (equus) recepit, etc., Hor. Ep. 1, 10, 36: non frenum depulit ore, id. ib. 1, 10, 38.—b. Prov.: frenum mordere, to take the bit in one's teeth, i. e. to offer opposition, to resist: si frenum momorderis peream, Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 23, 2; cf.:
sed ut mones, frenum momordi, Cic. ib. 11, 24, 1.—II. Transf.
A. Like our terms bridle and curb, i. q. means of guiding or governing, restraint, check, limit.
(a). Plur.:
rerum freni, the reins of dominion, Sil. 1, 240: freni sunt injecti vobis, Quirites, nullo modo perpetiendi: alligati et constricti estis amaro vinculo servitutis, Val. Max. 2, 9, 5; cf.: freni domitarum gentium, Curt. 7, 10 fin.: ne Lycurgi quidem disciplina tenuit illos in hominibus Graecis frenos, Cic. Rep. 2, 33: ut Isocratem in acerrimo ingenio Theopompi et lenissimo Ephori dixisse traditum est, alteri se calcaria adhibere, alteri frenos, id. Brut. 56, 204: Mutinam illi exsultanti tamquam frenos furoris injecit, id. Phil. 13, 9, 20: date frenos impotenti naturae et indomito animali, give the reins to, allow full scope to, Liv. 34, 2, 13; so, frenos furentibus ira Laxat, Luc. 7, 125: impone felicitati tuae frenos, put on, Curt. 7, 8 fin.: imperii frena tenere sui, Ov. Tr. 2, 42: frena imperii moderari, id. P. 2, 9, 33: capere, id. ib. 4, 13, 27: frena licentiae inicere, Hor. C. 4, 15, 10: pone irae frena modumque, Pone et avaritiae, Juv. 8, 88: subiit leges et frena momordit Ille solutus amor, i. e. submitted to, Stat. S. 1, 2, 28: quod dicebat Isocrates, se calcaribus in Ephoro, contra autem in Theopompo frenis uti solere, Cic. de Or. 3, 9, 36; Quint. 2, 8, 11; cf. above the passage Cic. Brut. 56, 204: alter, uti dixit Isocrates in Ephoro et Theopompo, frenis eget, alter calcaribus, id. Att. 6, 1, 12: non solum frenis sed etiam jugo accepto, Liv. 37, 36, 5: animum rege: qui nisi paret, Imperat: hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catenā, Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 63: jam vaga prosiliet frenis natura remotis, id. S. 2, 7, 74.—(b). Sing.:
ni frenum accipere et victi parere fatentur, Verg. A. 12, 568: voluptates tenere sub freno, Sen. Ep. 23 med.—B. Poet., horse, steed, charger:
eques aptus frenis, Prop. 4 (5), 10, 19. portarumque moras frenis assultat et hastis, Stat. Th. 11, 243.—C. In gen.
1. That which holds things together, a band (post-Aug. and rare):
absiliunt pontes tectique trementis Saxea frena labant, etc., the stone bands, ties, Stat. Th. 10, 880.— 2. In anatomy:
frenum, the ligament which attaches the inside of the foreskin to the glans, Cels. 7, 25, 2.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
frēnum (frae-) ī, n plur. frēnī, ōrum, m, or frēna, ōrum, n
3 FER-, a bridle, curb, bit : frenumque (equus) recepit, H.: non frenum depulit ore, H.—Prov.: frenum mordere, take the bit in one's teeth , i.e. resist.—Plur. : sonipes frena mandit, V.: frenos audire, V.: inhibuit frenos, L.: asellum docere currere frenis, H.: frenos pati, Ph.: ea frena furenti (Sibyllae) Concutit Apollo, V.—Fig., a bridle, curb, means of governing, restraint, check, limit : Ni frenum accipere et victi parere fatentur, V.: furoris: date frenos naturae, give the reins to , L.: pinus, cui victa remisit Frena rector, the helm , O.: frena licentiae Inicere, H.: calcaribus in Ephoro, in Theopompo frenis uti: prosiliet frenis natura remotis, H.
Origins
Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰr-eh₁-nom Proto-Italic *θrēnomder. Proto-Italic *frēnom Latin frenum From Proto-Italic *frēnom, from earlier *θrēnom, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰr-eh₁-nom, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“to hold”). Cognates include ferē, fermē and firmus.
Italo-Western Romance
- Italianfreno
- Catalanfre
- Occitanfren
- Portuguesefreiofrom Old Galician-Portuguese frẽo
- Spanishfreno
- Sicilianfrenu
- Venetanfren
- Old Frenchfrein
- Old Frenchfrain
- Galicianfreofrom Old Galician-Portuguese frẽo
Eastern Romance
- Romanianfrână
- Romanianfrâu
- Aromanianfrãn
- Aromanianfãrnu
- Aromanianfrãnu
Southern Romance
- Sardinianfrenu
Borrowings
- Englishfrenum
- Albanianfre
- Idofreno
- Welshffrwynfrom Proto-Brythonic *fruɨn
- Irishsrianfrom Old Irish srían
- Scottish Gaelicsrianfrom Old Irish srían
- Manxstreeanfrom Old Irish srían
In English words that came into English from frēnum
- refrainrefrēnāre
- frenulumfrēnulum
- frenumfrēnum