English
accrue
Accrue comes from Middle English acrewen ‘to come into one's possession’, from Old French accreistre ‘to increase’, and ultimately from Latin accrēsco.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccrēsco‘increase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400accreistre‘to increase’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400acreüepast participle of accreistre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acrewen‘to come into one's possession’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590accrue
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccrēsco‘increase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400accreistre‘to increase’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400acreüepast participle of accreistre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acrewen‘to come into one's possession’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590accrue
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “And though pow’r fail’d, her Courage did accrue”.
A compound of ad ‘in addition’ + crēscō ‘to grow’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’
Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
Latin ad ‘in addition’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁-sḱéti
Latin crēscō ‘to grow’
first attested First attested in mid 15th century (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in mid 15th century.
Linked words
through Latin accrēsco ‘increase’
Today it means
verb To increase, to rise
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin accrēsco / accrue