Etymograph

English

crisp

Crisp comes from Latin crispus ‘of hair: crimped, curly’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrispus‘of hair: crimped, curly’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150crisp‘curly’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘curly, wavy’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1530same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrispus‘of hair: crimped, curly’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150crisp‘curly’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘curly, wavy’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1530same form

Earliest quotation: 1530, The Table of Verbes: “I Craſſhe [crush] as a thynge dothe that is…”

The story

Adjective etymology 1, adjective sense 2.2.3 (‘of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry’) is transferred from a description of frost or snow as “crisp”, that is, crunchy.

Linked words

through Latin crispus ‘of hair: crimped, curly’

crepe, 1 more

Another origin of crisp

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krispos‘curly, crumpled, twisted’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrispus‘curly’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrīspō‘to crimp’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cirpsian‘to curl, crisp’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crispen‘to curl’
  6. Englishtodaycrisp

Today it means

adj Of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets; also (obsolete), of a person: having hair curled in this manner.

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

Etymograph / Latin crispus / crisp

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