Etymograph

English

cranium

Cranium comes from Medieval Latin crānium ‘skull’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρᾱνίονkrāníon‘skull’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500crānium‘skull’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1858cranium

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρᾱνίονkrāníon‘skull’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500crānium‘skull’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1858cranium

Earliest quotation: 1858, Henry Gray, The Skull: “The Skull is divided into two parts, the Cranium…”

Equivalent to crani- + -um

Ancient Greek κρᾱνίον ‘skull’

Medieval Latin crānium ‘skull’

English crani-

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-

horn, cheer, hart, cerebral, corny, grail, migraine, crater, cornea, carotid, cairn, cornet, cerebellum, procrastinate, keratin, rother, cerebrum, 52 more

through Medieval Latin crānium ‘skull’

crane

Today it means

noun That part of the skull consisting of the bones enclosing the brain, but not including the bones of the face or jaw.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- / cranium

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