Etymograph

English

create

Create comes from Middle English createn, from Latin creātus, participle of creō ‘to create’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-1‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreō2
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreātus3‘created’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500createn3‘to make’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1560create3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin creo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin creatus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English create
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1560, [William Whittingham et al., Geneva: […] Rouland Hall: “In the beginning God created yᵉ heauen and the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-Wiktionary, Latin creo‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-eh₂yé-tiWiktionary, Latin creoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreōWiktionary, Latin creatus
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcreātusWiktionary, English create‘created’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500createnWiktionary, English create‘to make’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1560createWiktionary, English create. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1560, [William Whittingham et al., Geneva: […] Rouland Hall: “In the beginning God created yᵉ heauen and the…”

The story

In this sense, mostly displaced Old English wyrċan (whence Modern English work) and ġesċieppan (whence Modern English shape).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘to grow, become bigger’

increase, increasing, crew, decrease, cereal, crescent, croissant, increment, excrement, accretion, cru, kore, 30 more

through Latin creō

recreation, creole, procreation, 16 more

Today it means

verb To bring into existence; (sometimes in particular:)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “create”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin creo, Latin creatus. 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 *ḱer- / create

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