Etymograph

English

crudity

Crudity comes from Latin crūditās ‘overloading of the stomach (indigestion)’, from crūdus ‘unripe, uncooked’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- ‘bloody or raw flesh, raw meat’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krewh₂-1‘bloody or raw flesh, raw meat’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrūdus1‘unripe, uncooked’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrūditās2‘overloading of the stomach (indigestion)’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600crudité2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1621crudity2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cruditas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English crudity
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1621, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, Diet rectified in quantity: “For there is no meat whatſoeuer, though otherwiſe wholeſome…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krewh₂-Wiktionary, Latin cruditas‘bloody or raw flesh, raw meat’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrūdusWiktionary, Latin cruditas‘unripe, uncooked’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrūditāsWiktionary, English crudity‘overloading of the stomach (indigestion)’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cruditéWiktionary, English crudity
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1621crudityWiktionary, English crudity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1621, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, Diet rectified in quantity: “For there is no meat whatſoeuer, though otherwiſe wholeſome…”

Equivalent to crude + -ity

Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- ‘bloody or raw flesh, raw meat’

Latin crūdus ‘unprepared, raw, uncooked’

Middle English crude ‘unprocessed, uncooked, unworked’

English crude

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- ‘bloody or raw flesh, raw meat’

raw, cruel, pancreas, ree, 6 more

through Latin crūdus ‘unripe, uncooked’

crude, 3 more

Today it means

noun The state of being crude.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crudity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin cruditas. 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 *krewh₂- / crudity

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