Etymograph

English

acrasy

Acrasy comes from Late Latin acrasia ‘lack of temperance’, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓κρᾱσῐ́ᾱ ‘bad mixture’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ‘to mix’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-1‘to mix’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kírnāmi2‘to mix’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκεράννυμι3‘to mix’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓́κρᾱτος4‘unmixed’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓κρᾱσῐ́ᾱ5ăkrāsĭ́ā‘bad mixture’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEacrasia5‘lack of temperance’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1847acrasy5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *kírnāmi
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κεράννυμι
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄκρατος
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀκρασία
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English acrasy
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1847, The Reasoner: “There will be hesitancy in what is said, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *kírnāmi‘to mix’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kírnāmiWiktionary, Ancient Greek κεράννυμι‘to mix’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκεράννυμιWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄκρατος‘to mix’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓́κρᾱτοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀκρασία‘unmixed’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓κρᾱσῐ́ᾱWiktionary, English acrasyăkrāsĭ́ā‘bad mixture’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEacrasiaWiktionary, English acrasy‘lack of temperance’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1847acrasyWiktionary, English acrasy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1847, The Reasoner: “There will be hesitancy in what is said, and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ‘to mix’

horn, cheer, hart, cerebral, corny, migraine, crater, cornea, carotid, cairn, cornet, cerebellum, keratin, procrastinate, cranium, cerebrum, rother, 50 more

through Ancient Greek κεράννυμι ‘to mix’

grail, 3 more

Today it means

noun Synonym of acrasia (“lack of self-control; intemperance, excess; also, irregular or unruly behaviour”); (countable) an instance of this.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “acrasy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Hellenic *kírnāmi, Ancient Greek κεράννυμι, Ancient Greek ἄκρατος, Ancient Greek ἀκρασία. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- / acrasy

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