Etymology Borrowed from Middle French rupture, or its source, Latin ruptūra (“a breaking, rupture (of a limb or vein)”) and Medieval Latin ruptūra (“a road, a field, a form of feudal tenure, a tax, etc.”), from the participle stem of rumpere (“to break, burst”). Doublet of roture.
1
A burst, split, or break.
Hatch from the egg, that soon, / Bursting with kindly rupture, forth disclosed / Their callow young.1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
2
A social breach or break, between individuals or groups.
Thus a war was kindled with Lubec; Denmark took part with the king's enemies, and made use of a frivolous pretence, which demonstrated the inclination of his Danish majesty to come to a rupture.1761, The Modern Part of an Universal History:
He knew that policy would disincline Napoleon from a rupture with his family.1825, Edward Everett, Claims of the United States on Naples and Holland:
1 more example
Our age of what Mark Carney called global rupture is also often described as following the “law of the jungle”, in which the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must, with international law shattered and multilateral organisations hollowed out.2026 June 20, Nathalie Tocci, “Even in this age of global rupture, do not despair: there is still hope for international law”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
3
Medicine, Sciences A break or tear in soft tissue, such as a muscle.
4
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A failure mode in which a tough ductile material pulls apart rather than cracking.
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French rupture, or its source, Latin ruptūra (“a breaking, rupture (of a limb or vein)”) and Medieval Latin ruptūra (“a road, a field, a form of feudal tenure, a tax, etc.”), from the participle stem of rumpere (“to break, burst”). Doublet of roture.
1
Ambitransitive To burst, break through, or split, as under pressure.
The cracking sound, he explained, as far as I, a non-plumber, could understand, was the sound of the overworked, undermaintained and weirdly installed heating unit’s core rupturing and spilling water into the basement.2007 February 18, Jake Mooney, “A Case of the Shivers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
2
Biology, Botany, Natural sciences To dehisce irregularly.