Etymograph

English

juxtacrine

Juxtacrine comes from Ancient Greek κρίνω ‘to separate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey-.

  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 BCEκρίνω2kríneinas κρίνειν‘to separate’
  5. Englishtodayjuxtacrine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κρίνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English juxtacrine

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 BCEκρίνωWiktionary, English juxtacrinekríneinas κρίνειν‘to separate’
  5. EnglishtodayjuxtacrineWiktionary, English juxtacrine

Linked words

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

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

through Proto-Hellenic *kríňňō

critique, criticize, hypocrite, criterium, 8 more

through Ancient Greek κρίνω ‘to separate’

crisis, critic, criterion, 2 more

Today it means

adj In direct contact, especially of one cell with another.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “juxtacrine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κρίνω. 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- / juxtacrine

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