Etymograph

English

crystal

Crystal comes from Middle English crystal, a merger of Old English cristalla and Old French cristal, from Latin, from Greek κρύσταλλος ‘clear ice’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krews-1‘hard outer surface, crust’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρύος1‘frost’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρύσταλλος1‘clear ice’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrystallum1
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cristal1uncertain
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crystal1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1595crystal1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English crystal
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1595, The Life and Death of King Richard the Second: “[…] the more faire and chriſtall is the skie,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krews-Wiktionary, English crystal‘hard outer surface, crust’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρύοςWiktionary, English crystal‘frost’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρύσταλλοςWiktionary, English crystal‘clear ice’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrystallumWiktionary, English crystal
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cristalWiktionary, English crystaluncertain
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crystalWiktionary, English crystal
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1595crystalWiktionary, English crystal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1595, The Life and Death of King Richard the Second: “[…] the more faire and chriſtall is the skie,…”

The story

The Latin is derived from Ancient Greek κρύσταλλος (krústallos, “clear ice”), from κρύος (krúos, “frost”), from Proto-Indo-European *krews- (‘hard, hard outer surface, crust’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *krews-

Today it means

noun A solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “crystal”. 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 *krews- / crystal

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