Etymograph

English

scry

Scry comes from Old French escrier ‘to cry out’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)krey- ‘to scream, caw’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)krey-1‘to scream, caw’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrījaną1‘to cry out’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*skrīan1‘to yell, scream, call out, shout’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400crier1‘to cry, shout, proclaim’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escrier2‘to cry out’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ascrien2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scrien2shortened form of ascrien
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1596scry2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old French escrier
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English scry
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Canto XII: “[…]two ſhepheards curres, had ſcryde A rauenous Wolfe amongſt…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)krey-Wiktionary, Old French escrier‘to scream, caw’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrījanąWiktionary, Old French escrier‘to cry out’reconstructed
  3. Frankishc. 250–700*skrīanWiktionary, Old French escrier‘to yell, scream, call out, shout’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400crierWiktionary, Old French escrier‘to cry, shout, proclaim’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escrierWiktionary, English scry‘to cry out’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ascrienWiktionary, English scry
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scrienWiktionary, English scryshortened form of ascrien
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1596scryWiktionary, English scry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Canto XII: “[…]two ſhepheards curres, had ſcryde A rauenous Wolfe amongſt…”

The story

Influenced by Middle English descrien (‘to descry’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Old French crier ‘to cry, shout, proclaim’

cry, havoc, decry, 1 more

Today it means

verb To magically or supernaturally look into or (as an entertainer) predict (the future), using crystal balls or other objects.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scry”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French escrier. 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 *(s)krey- / scry

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