English
gridiron
Gridiron comes from Middle English gredire ‘a gridiron’, from gridil ‘griddle’, and ultimately from Latin crātis ‘wickerwork, framework, grating’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātis1‘wickerwork, framework, grating’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātīcula2‘grill, grating’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400gredil2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gridil3as gridel, itself alteration‘griddle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gredire3‘a gridiron’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gridirne3
- Englishearliest quotation 1603gridiron3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin craticula
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English gridil
- 3 Wiktionary, English gridiron
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “I know, there have been found seely boores, who…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātisWiktionary, Latin craticula‘wickerwork, framework, grating’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrātīculaWiktionary, Middle English gridil‘grill, grating’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400gredilWiktionary, Middle English gridil
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gridilWiktionary, English gridironas gridel, itself alteration‘griddle’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gredireWiktionary, English gridiron‘a gridiron’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gridirneWiktionary, English gridiron
- Englishearliest quotation 1603gridironWiktionary, English gridiron. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “I know, there have been found seely boores, who…”
Proto-Celtic *īsarnom
…
Proto-West Germanic *īsarn
Old English īsern ‘the metal iron’
Old English īren
Middle English iren ‘iron’
English iron
The story
The ending was assimilated to iron, as if from grid + iron, whence grid was later derived.
Linked words
through Latin crātīcula ‘grill, grating’
through Middle English gridil ‘griddle’
Today it means
noun An instrument of torture on which people were secured before being burned by fire.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “gridiron”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin craticula, Middle English gridil. 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 / gridiron