Etymograph

English

creen

Creen comes from Cornish krena ‘to tremble’, from Proto-Celtic *kriniti ‘to shake’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to shake’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kriniti1‘to shake’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*krɨnɨð1reconstructed
  4. Middle Cornishmoderncrenna1
  5. Cornishmodernkrena2‘to tremble’
  6. Englishtodaycreen2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Cornish krena
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English creen

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Cornish krena‘to shake’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*krinitiWiktionary, Cornish krena‘to shake’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*krɨnɨðWiktionary, Cornish krenareconstructed
  4. Middle CornishmoderncrennaWiktionary, Cornish krena
  5. CornishmodernkrenaWiktionary, English creen‘to tremble’
  6. EnglishtodaycreenWiktionary, English creen

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to shake’

certain, crime, secretary, criminal, secret, crisis, discrimination, critic, critique, discretion, riddle, discriminate, criterion, discern, hypocrite, discrete, discreet, endocrine, rime, incriminate, excretion, incrimination, ridder, excrement, certitude, criterium, recrimination, excrete, 44 more

Today it means

verb To complain; to whine; to moan.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “creen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Cornish krena. 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- / creen

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