Etymograph

English

graticule

Graticule comes from Latin crāticula ‘grating, grill’, and goes back to crātis ‘hurdle’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātis1‘hurdle’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrāticula1‘grating, grill’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500grātīcula1
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentgraticule1
  5. Englishtodaygraticule1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English graticule

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātisWiktionary, English graticule‘hurdle’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrāticulaWiktionary, English graticule‘grating, grill’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500grātīculaWiktionary, English graticule
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentgraticuleWiktionary, English graticule
  5. EnglishtodaygraticuleWiktionary, English graticule

The story

Borrowed from French graticule, from Medieval Latin grātīcula, from Latin crāticula (‘grating, grill’), from crātis (‘hurdle; wickerwork’) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *kréh₂-tis (‘fenced handiwork’)) + -cula (feminine form of -culus, a variant of -ulus (‘diminutive suffix’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin crāticula ‘grating, grill’

grill, gridiron, creel, 1 more

Today it means

noun The network of lines of latitude and longitude that make up a coordinate system such as the one used for charts and maps of the Earth.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “graticule”. 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 / Latin crātis / graticule

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