Etymograph

English

create

Create comes from Middle English createn, from Latin creātus, participle of creō ‘to create’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-tireconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreō
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreātus‘created’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500createn‘to make’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1560create

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-tireconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreō
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreātus‘created’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500createn‘to make’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1560create

Earliest quotation: 1560, [William Whittingham et al., Geneva: […] Rouland Hall: “In the beginning God created yᵉ heauen and the…”

The story

In this sense, mostly displaced Old English wyrċan (whence Modern English work) and ġesċieppan (whence Modern English shape).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’

increase, increasing, crew, decrease, cereal, crescent, croissant, increment, excrement, accretion, cru, kore, 30 more

through Latin creō

recreation, creole, procreation, 16 more

Today it means

verb To bring into existence; (sometimes in particular:)

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- / create

Shirt and support for this word