Etymograph

English

hypocrite

Hypocrite comes from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτής ‘actor, hypocrite’, from ὑποκρίνομαι ‘to answer, act, feign’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňōreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νω‘to separate, judge, decide’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὑποκρίνομαιhupokrínomai‘to answer, act, feign’
  6. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὑποκριτήςhupokritḗs‘actor, hypocrite’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhypocrita
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ypocrite
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611hypocrite

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňōreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νω‘to separate, judge, decide’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὑποκρίνομαιhupokrínomai‘to answer, act, feign’
  6. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὑποκριτήςhupokritḗs‘actor, hypocrite’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhypocrita
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ypocrite
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611hypocrite

Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’

certain, secretary, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, discretion, critic, discreet, riddle, discrete, discern, discriminate, criterion, excrement, endocrine, excretion, rime, incrimination, incriminate, ridder, recrimination, excrete, certitude, 46 more

through Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to separate, judge, decide’

critique, criticize, criterium, 8 more

Today it means

noun Someone who practices hypocrisy, who pretends to hold beliefs, or whose actions are not consistent with their claimed beliefs.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / hypocrite

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