crime (English)

Where does "crime" come from?

English crime came into Middle English as cryme from Old French crime, which in turn came from Latin crīmen. In Latin, the word first meant a charge, judgment, or accusation, and later came to name a criminal act itself. It ultimately goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to sift, separate, divide,” which fits the idea of distinguishing one thing from another; English replaced an older native word, firen, with this borrowed term.

Full etymology tree

• crime (English), 'A specific act committed in violation of the law, especially criminal law.'
  • inherited from crime (Middle English), 'alternative form of cryme'
    • borrowed from crime (Old French)
      • borrowed from crīmen (Latin), 'a judicial decision, verdict, or judgment'
        • inherited from *kreimən (Proto-Italic)
          • inherited from *kréymn̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
            • suffix *krey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to sift, separate, divide'
            • suffix *-mn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs.'

Direct ancestors

• krey- (Proto-Indo-European)
• cryme (Middle English)
• crimen (Latin)
• firen (Old English)

Updated March 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris