Etymograph

English

crew

Crew comes from Old French creue ‘increase, reinforcement’, past participle of croistre ‘to grow’, from Latin crēscō ‘to grow’, 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-sḱéti1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscō1‘to grow, increase’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400croistre1‘to grow’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400creue1‘increase; recruit’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crue1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590crew1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English crew
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “There a noble crew / Of Lordes and Ladies…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱer-Wiktionary, English crew‘to grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱreh₁-sḱétiWiktionary, English crewreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēscōWiktionary, English crew‘to grow, increase’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400croistreWiktionary, English crew‘to grow’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400creueWiktionary, English crew‘increase; recruit’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crueWiktionary, English crew
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590crewWiktionary, English crew. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “There a noble crew / Of Lordes and Ladies…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-

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

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱreh₁-sḱéti

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

through Latin crēscere ‘to arise, grow’

crescendo

Today it means

noun Any company of people; an assemblage; a throng.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crew”. 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- / crew

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