Etymograph

English

incriminate

Incriminate comes from Latin incrīminō ‘to incriminate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincrīminō‘to incriminate’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500incrīminātusperfect passive participle of incrīminō
  4. Englishtodayincriminate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’root as named
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincrīminō‘to incriminate’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500incrīminātusperfect passive participle of incrīminō
  4. Englishtodayincriminate

Equivalent to in- + criminate

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’

Proto-Germanic *in ‘into’

English in-

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

Latin crīminātus ‘having accused’

English criminate

first attested First attested in 1736 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1736.

Linked words

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

certain, secretary, secret, crime, crisis, criminal, discretion, critic, discrimination, critique, discreet, riddle, discrete, discern, criterion, hypocrite, excrement, endocrine, discriminate, excretion, rime, ridder, certitude, excrete, criterium, recrimination, 48 more

Today it means

verb To accuse or bring criminal charges against.

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

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

Shirt and support for this word