Etymograph

English

crucigerous

Crucigerous comes from Latin crux ‘cross’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *kruks.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kruks1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrux2‘cross’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1658crucigerous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin crux, which cites Pokorny
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English crucigerous
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, Sir Thomas Browne: “But not to look so high as Heaven or…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kruksWiktionary, Latin crux, which cites Pokornyreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcruxWiktionary, English crucigerous‘cross’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1658crucigerousWiktionary, English crucigerous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, Sir Thomas Browne: “But not to look so high as Heaven or…”

Linked words

through Latin crux ‘cross’

across, cross, cruise, crusade, crux, crouch, excruciating, cruciform, 7 more

Today it means

adj Bearing a cross; marked with the figure of a cross.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crucigerous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin crux. 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-Italic *kruks / crucigerous

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