Etymograph

English

apocrine

Apocrine comes from Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to separate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňō1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νω2krī́nō‘to separate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2001apocrine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English apocrine
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2001, Paul Peter Rosen, Rosen's Breast Pathology: “They observed that apocrine metaplasia often was present in…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňōWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νωWiktionary, English apocrinekrī́nō‘to separate’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2001apocrineWiktionary, English apocrine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2001, Paul Peter Rosen, Rosen's Breast Pathology: “They observed that apocrine metaplasia often was present in…”

Formed from apo ‘away from’

Linked words

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

certain, secretary, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, discretion, critic, discrete, discreet, riddle, discern, criterion, discriminate, excrement, excretion, endocrine, rime, incriminate, excrete, certitude, ridder, incrimination, recrimination, 43 more

through Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to separate’

critique, criticize, hypocrite, criterium, 5 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to an apocrine gland or to its mode of secretion, which involves the budding of portions of the secreting cells.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “apocrine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κρίνω. 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 *krey- / apocrine

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