From PIE *bhreg- — the same root gave Latin 'frangere' and thus 'fracture' and 'fragment,' siblings separated by five millennia of sound change.
To separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain; to cause to cease to be intact.
From Old English 'brecan' meaning 'to break, shatter, burst, destroy,' from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (to break), from PIE root *bhreg- meaning 'to break.' This is one of the rare cases where a PIE root, a Proto-Germanic form, and a modern English word all mean essentially the same thing. The Latin cognate 'frangere' (to break) gave English 'fracture