Etymograph

English

hypocrite

Hypocrite comes from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτής ‘actor, hypocrite’, from ὑποκρίνομαι ‘to answer, act, feign’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňō1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νω2‘to separate, judge, decide’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑποκρίνομαι3hupokrínomai‘to answer, act, feign’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑποκριτής3hupokritḗs‘actor, hypocrite’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhypocrita3
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ypocrite3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611hypocrite3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὑποκρίνομαι
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English hypocrite
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kri-n-yé-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kríňňōWiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνωreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκρῑ́νωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὑποκρίνομαι‘to separate, judge, decide’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑποκρίνομαιWiktionary, English hypocritehupokrínomai‘to answer, act, feign’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑποκριτήςWiktionary, English hypocritehupokritḗs‘actor, hypocrite’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhypocritaWiktionary, English hypocrite
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ypocriteWiktionary, English hypocrite
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611hypocriteWiktionary, English hypocrite. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate’

certain, secretary, secret, crime, criminal, crisis, discrimination, discretion, critic, discreet, riddle, discrete, discern, discriminate, criterion, excrement, endocrine, excretion, rime, incrimination, incriminate, ridder, recrimination, excrete, certitude, 44 more

through Ancient Greek κρῑ́νω ‘to separate, judge, decide’

critique, criticize, criterium, 6 more

Today it means

noun Someone who practices hypocrisy, who pretends to hold beliefs, or whose actions are not consistent with their claimed beliefs.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hypocrite”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek κρίνω, Ancient Greek ὑποκρίνομαι. 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 *krey- / hypocrite

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