frail
UK[freɪl]US[freɪl]
adj
(of a person) physically weak and delicate, especially because of age or illness.
adj
(of a thing) easily broken or damaged; fragile.
adj
(of a person's character or resolve) weak and uncertain; morally vulnerable.
Etymology
The word 'frail' entered English in the early 14th century from Old French 'fraile' or 'frele', meaning "weak, easily broken, morally weak." The Old French term derived from the Latin adjective 'fragilis', which carries the same meaning of "easily broken, brittle, fragile." This Latin root is itself formed from the verb 'frangere', meaning "to break." The fascinating journey from 'frangere' to 'frail' illustrates a common phonetic shift in the evolution from Latin to the Romance languages, where the 'g' sound softened and disappeared. Thus, the literal sense of "breakable" evolved metaphorically to describe physical weakness, delicate health, and a fragile or vulnerable state of mind or character.
Analysis
The word 'frail' is a simplex word, a direct borrowing from Old French. It cannot be meaningfully segmented into smaller, independent morphemes using its modern English spelling. Its core meaning resides in the word as a whole unit.
Examples
The frail old woman needed assistance to walk.
The structure of the bird's nest was beautiful but incredibly frail.
His frail resolve crumbled at the first sign of temptation.