Etymograph

English

incriminate

Incriminate comes from Latin incrīminō ‘to incriminate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘to sift, separate, divide’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincrīminō1‘to incriminate’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500incrīminātus1perfect passive participle of incrīminō
  4. Englishtodayincriminate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English incriminate

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, English incriminate‘to sift, separate, divide’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincrīminōWiktionary, English incriminate‘to incriminate’
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500incrīminātusWiktionary, English incriminateperfect passive participle of incrīminō
  4. EnglishtodayincriminateWiktionary, English incriminate

first attested First attested in 1736 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1736.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

certain, secretary, secret, crime, crisis, criminal, discretion, critic, discrimination, critique, discreet, riddle, discrete, discern, criterion, hypocrite, excrement, endocrine, discriminate, excretion, rime, ridder, certitude, excrete, criterium, recrimination, 46 more

Today it means

verb To accuse or bring criminal charges against.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “incriminate”. 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- / incriminate

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