prae-fringo, frēgi, fractum, 3, v. a. [frango], to break off before or at the end, to break to pieces, shiver (class.): ne caulis praefringatur, Cato, R. R. 33 (cited by Plin. 17, 22, 35, 20): hastas, Liv. 8, 10; so, primam aciem telo,
to break off the point of the missile
, Just. 6, 8, 2: cornu galeae, Liv. 27, 33: praefracto rostro (triremis), Caes. B. C. 2, 6: praefracta strigilis, Lucil. ap. Gell. 3, 14, 10: praefracta ligna, Lucr. 1, 892.—Hence, praefractus, a, um, P. a.A. In rhet., broken, abrupt: Thucydides praefractior, Cic. Or. 13, 40.—B. In character, stern, harsh, inflexible: Aristo Chius, praefractus, ferreus, Cic. Fragm. ap. Non. 155, 14: praefractior atque abscissior justitia, Val. Max. 6, 5 fin.: praefractius perseverantiae exemplum,