Etymograph

English

crescent

Crescent comes from Latin crēscō ‘arise, thrive’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-sḱéti1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscō1‘arise, thrive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscentem1next step skipped: Old French creistrepresent active participle of crēscō
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400creissant1
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400cressaunt2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cressaunt1
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602crescent1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English crescent
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English cressaunt
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet: “For nature creſſant does not grovve alone / In…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-Wiktionary, English crescentreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-sḱétiWiktionary, English crescentreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscōWiktionary, English crescent‘arise, thrive’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscentemWiktionary, English crescentnext step skipped: Old French creistrepresent active participle of crēscō
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400creissantWiktionary, English crescent
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400cressauntWiktionary, Middle English cressaunt
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cressauntWiktionary, English crescent
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602crescentWiktionary, English crescent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet: “For nature creſſant does not grovve alone / In…”

The story

The pronunciation with /z/ is a comparatively recent innovation due to the influence of words such as pheasant and present.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-

create, creative, creator, creature, cereal, creole, procreation, kore, creat, 26 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁-sḱéti

crew, 10 more

through Latin crēscō ‘arise, thrive’

increase, increasing, decrease, cru, accretion, increment, excrement, 10 more

through Old French creissant

croissant

Today it means

noun The figure of the moon as it appears between its first or last quarter and the new moon, with concave and convex edges terminating in points.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crescent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English cressaunt. 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- / crescent

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