English
criminy
Criminy may come from Italian crimine ‘crime’.
- Italianc. 1300–presentcrimine‘crime’uncertain
- Englishtodaycriminy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Italianc. 1300–presentcrimine‘crime’uncertain
- Englishtodaycriminy
first attested First attested in the 1680s (as stated in the etymology)
The story
Either from Italian crimine (‘crime’), or a minced oath from "Christ's money" (in reference to the silver that Judas was paid for betraying Jesus), or a deformation of Gemini (which was recorded as an oath from the 1660s). First attested in the 1680s.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘sieve’
certain, secretary, secret, crisis, discretion, discrimination, critic, critique, discrete, discreet, discern, riddle, criterion, hypocrite, discriminate, excrement, endocrine, excretion, excrete, certitude, ridder, rime, criterium, incriminate, incrimination, 47 more
through Latin crīmen ‘a crime, fault, offense’
Today it means
intj Expressing surprise or impatience.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Italian crimine / criminy