Fruor

Fruor is a Latin deponent verb meaning to enjoy, to derive benefit from, or to take pleasure in something. Because it is deponent, its forms are built from the passive endings, but its meaning is active. It governs the ablative case for the thing enjoyed, as in fruor libertate, meaning “I enjoy liberty.”

Grammatically, fruor belongs to the group of Latin deponent verbs of the third conjugation. Its principal parts are listed as fruor, frui, fructus sum, with the infinitive frui. In the present system it uses passive endings: fruor, frueris, fruetur, fruimur, fruimini, fruentur. The imperfect and future tenses follow the same deponent pattern, and the perfect uses a passive participle with sum, typically fructus sum, fructus es, fructus est, fructi sumus, fructi estis, fructi sunt.

Usage in Latin centers on enjoying or benefiting from something. The object enjoyed is usually expressed in the ablative, and the verb often contrasts with more common active verbs by stressing the experience of the subject. It can appear with abstract nouns (libertas, virtus) and concrete nouns (cultura, fortuna) alike, to convey personal benefit or pleasure derived from them. The verb emphasizes the subject’s experience rather than an action performed for someone else.

Examples include: fruor libertate, “I enjoy liberty”; fruimur virtute, “we enjoy virtue”; fruuntur gloria, “they enjoy glory.” As a deponent, fruor never has an active meaning in its morphology, but it conveys active sense in translation.

See also: deponent verbs, utor, potior, fungor.