fragile, a.
(ˈfrædʒaɪl, ˈfrædʒɪl)
Also 6 fragyll, 8 fragil.
[a. F. fragile (14th c.), ad. L. fragil-is, f. frag- root of frangĕre to break. See frail a.]
1. a. Liable to break or be broken; easily snapped or shattered; in looser sense, weak, perishable, easily destroyed. Also fig.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon v. i. 204 Throwes That Natures fragile Vessell doth sustaine In lifes vncertaine voyage. 1626 Bacon Sylva §841 Of Bodies, some are Fragile; and some are Tough, and not Fragile. a 1668 Denham Progr. Learn. 188 When subtile Wits have spun their thred too fine, 'Tis weak and fragile, like Arachne's line. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 388 Much ostentation vain of fleshly arm And fragile arms. 1756 Blacklock Soliloquy 281 Secure, thy steps the fragile board could press. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 248 Threads..render the material [glass] extremely fragile. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxvii. 356 We found the spot..hemmed in by loose and fragile ice. |
b. Of persons, etc.: Of weak or tender frame or constitution, delicate (= frail, but used with an allusion to the primary sense).
| 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvii. 435 The..people saw as yet but a single fragile life between the country and a disputed succession. 1883 Ouida Wanda I. 43 An old lady, so delicate..so pretty and so fragile. |
† 2. Liable to err or fall into sin; frail. Obs.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 1875 More lyke an angell..Than a fragyll mayde of sensuall appetyte. Ibid. i. 2776 A wanton prynce folowynge sensualyte And his fragyll appetyte. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (an. 23) 248 b, Suche is the blyndnes of our fraile and fragile nature, euer giuen to carnal concupiscence. |
3. quasi-n. in pl. = fragile articles or goods.
| 1882 Pall Mall G. 19 June 10/1 Cases..marked..‘Fragiles’. |
Hence ˈfragilely adv., ˈfragileness.
| 1727 Bailey II, Fragileness. 1864 Webster, Fragilely. |