friable

English

WOTD – 18 March 2010

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin friābilis, from friō (“to crumble”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: frī'ə-bəl, IPA^(key): /ˈfɹaɪəbl̩/
• Rhymes: -aɪəbəl

Adjective

friable (comparative more friable, superlative most friable)

1. 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, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1020:

     This light, friable type of material offered excellent insulation against both desert heat and also the cold of darkness during the winter.

2. (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.

3. (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.

4. (mathematics, of a number) smooth: that factors completely into small prime numbers.

Synonyms

• (easily broken into small fragments): crumbly

Derived terms

• friability
• friableness
• friably
• nonfriable
• unfriable

 

Translations

easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or reduced to powder

• Bulgarian: ронлив (bg) (ronliv), трошлив (bg) (trošliv)
• Finnish: hauras (fi), hapero (fi)
• French: friable (fr), cassant (fr)
• German: brüchig (de), krümelig
• Greek:

  Ancient: ψαθυρός (psathurós)

• Italian: friabile (it)
• Maori: ngahoro, pōkurukuru
• Norman: friabl'ye m or f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: kruchy (pl), sypki (pl)
• Portuguese: friável (pt)
• Romanian: friabil (ro), casant (ro), fragil (ro), fărâmicios (ro)
• Russian: тре́скающийся (ru) (tréskajuščijsja), кроша́щийся (ru) (krošáščijsja), рассы́пчатый (ru) (rassýpčatyj), ло́мкий (ru) (lómkij), сы́пкий (sýpkij)
• Spanish: friable (es), frágil (es), quebradizo, desmenuzable
• Turkish: ezilgen (tr)

loose and large-grained in consistency

• Belarusian: пу́хкі (púxki), дру́злы (drúzly)
• Bulgarian: рохкав (bg) (rohkav), сипкав (bg) (sipkav)
• Finnish: irtonainen
• French: lâche (fr), friable (fr)
• Italian: allentado
• Maori: takataka, ngahoro, marewa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norman: friabl'ye m or f
• Romanian: friabil (ro)
• Russian: ры́хлый (ru) (rýxlyj), сыпу́чий (ru) (sypúčij) (like sand)
• Spanish: flojo (es)
• Ukrainian: крихки́й (kryxkýj), пухки́й (puxkýj)

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

• French: ^{(please verify)} désagrégable m or f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} desmenuzable m or f, ^{(please verify)} desmoronable m or f

See also

• brittle

References

• “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

• fabrile, firable, lifebar

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French

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin friābilis, from friō (“to crumble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʁi.jabl/
• Homophone: friables
• Hyphenation: fri‧able

Adjective

friable (plural friables)

1. crumbly
2. crummy, pitiful

Derived terms

• friabilité

References

• “friable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Spanish

Adjective

1. friable, crumbly