English
accrue
Accrue comes from Middle English acrewen ‘to come into one's possession’, from Old French accreistre ‘to increase’, and ultimately from Latin accrēsco.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccrēsco1‘increase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400accreistre1‘to increase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400acreüe1past participle of accreistre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acrewen1‘to come into one's possession’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590accrue1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English accrue
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “And though pow’r fail’d, her Courage did accrue”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccrēscoWiktionary, English accrue‘increase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400accreistreWiktionary, English accrue‘to increase’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400acreüeWiktionary, English accruepast participle of accreistre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acrewenWiktionary, English accrue‘to come into one's possession’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590accrueWiktionary, English accrue. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “And though pow’r fail’d, her Courage did accrue”
A compound of ad ‘in addition’ + crēscō ‘to grow’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’
Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
Latin ad ‘in addition’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁-sḱéti
Latin crēscō ‘to grow’
first attested First attested in mid 15th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested in mid 15th century.
Linked words
through Latin accrēsco ‘increase’
Today it means
verb To increase, to rise
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “accrue”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin accrēsco / accrue