infract

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ɪnˈfrækt/ UK /ɪnˈfrækt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to break or violate a law, rule, or agreement

To infract the treaty would invite immediate sanctions.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to break or violate a law,... violate breach break contravene transgress infringe

Opposites

obey comply

Word family

Derived forms infractioninfractor

Related forms infraction fracture fraction fragment

Etymology

From Latin infractus, past participle of infringere ('to break, weaken'), from in- (intensive) + frangere ('to break').

infringere Latin frangere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government

External links

# infract

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈfrækt/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈfrækt/

## Meanings
1. to break or violate a law, rule, or agreement

## Examples
- To infract the treaty would invite immediate sanctions.

## Synonyms
- violate
- breach
- break
- contravene
- transgress
- infringe

## Antonyms
- obey
- comply

## Derived Forms
- infraction
- infractor

## Related Forms
- infraction
- fracture
- fraction
- fragment

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: infringere
- Root: frangere

## Etymology
From Latin infractus, past participle of infringere ('to break, weaken'), from in- (intensive) + frangere ('to break').

## AI Etymology
infract comes from Latin infractus, past participle of infringere ('to break, weaken'), from in- (intensive) + frangere ('to break'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the verb sense is "to break or violate a law, rule, or agreement", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as infraction, fracture, fraction, and fragment, and in derivatives such as infraction and infractor. Its semantic neighborhood includes violate, breach, break, and contravene, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin infringere and Latin frangere.

## Topics
- Law & Government

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