Etymograph

English

recrimination

Recrimination comes from French récriminer ‘to recriminate’, from Latin crīmen ‘a judicial decision, verdict, or judgment’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘sieve’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-1‘sieve’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kréymn̥1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kreimən1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrīmen2‘a judicial decision, verdict, or judgment’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecrīmināre2
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentrécriminer3‘to recriminate’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentrécrimination4
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1983recrimination4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin crimen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French récriminer
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French récrimination
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English recrimination
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Robert P. Wasson Jr., "Whither BL/GPA?"—A Response: “Will's figures, if correct, serve to underscore the extent…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-Wiktionary, Latin crimen‘sieve’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kréymn̥Wiktionary, Latin crimenreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kreimənWiktionary, Latin crimenreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrīmenWiktionary, French récriminer‘a judicial decision, verdict, or judgment’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecrīmināreWiktionary, French récriminer
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentrécriminerWiktionary, French récrimination‘to recriminate’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentrécriminationWiktionary, English recrimination
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1983recriminationWiktionary, English recrimination. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1983, Robert P. Wasson Jr., "Whither BL/GPA?"—A Response: “Will's figures, if correct, serve to underscore the extent…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘sieve’

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

through Proto-Italic *kreimən

criminality, 3 more

through Latin crīmen ‘a judicial decision, verdict, or judgment’

crime, criminal, 4 more

Today it means

noun The act of recriminating.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “recrimination”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin crimen, French récriminer, French récrimination. 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- / recrimination

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