Etymograph

English

crescendo

Crescendo comes from Italian crescendo ‘gerund of crescere’, from crescere ‘to grow, to increase’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-‘to grow, become bigger’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krēskōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscere
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcrescere‘to grow, to increase’
  5. Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentcrescendo‘gerund of crescere’gerund of crescere
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1987same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-‘to grow, become bigger’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krēskōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscere
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcrescere‘to grow, to increase’
  5. Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentcrescendo‘gerund of crescere’gerund of crescere
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1987same form

Earliest quotation: 1987, Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal: “As he came into the window / It was…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁- ‘to grow, become bigger’

creation, recreate, procreate, 2 more

through Latin crēscere

crew

Today it means

noun An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( < ), by musicians called a hairpin.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁- / crescendo

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