fractus
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of fractus
First recorded in 1965–70; from Latin frāctus, past participle of frangere “to break”; cf. break
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A cumulus, for example, might just be a cumulus; or it might be a cumulus fractus, if its edges are tattered; or a cumulus pileus, if a smaller cloud appears over it like a hood.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2016
This foreboding scene, pictured by Richard Robotham, depicts a cumulus fractus under the base of well-developed cumulus clouds.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2011
I stand pledged for you with Angria; but I flatter myself I know a man when I see one: si fractus illabitur orbis--you have already shown your mettle.
From In Clive's Command A Story of the Fight for India by Herbert Strang
The prefix fracto- or the adjective fractus should be used when the cloud is undergoing disintegration or appears ragged or broken.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
They literally realize the idea of the poet— "Si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinæ."
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 363, January, 1846 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
