kripsós (Proto-Indo-European)

Where does "kripsós" come from?

The Proto-Indo-European adjective *kripsós originates from the root *kreyp-, meaning 'to turn,' combined with suffixes to denote a descriptive state. This ancient root is closely related to terms like the Lithuanian ‘krei̇̃pti,’ meaning to turn, and the Old Norse ‘hreifa,’ meaning to swing. These connections highlight how an original concept of movement or turning evolved to describe the physical quality of being curly.

Full etymology tree

• *kripsós (Proto-Indo-European), 'curly'
  • compound *kreyp- (Proto-Indo-European)
  • suffix *-os (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs.'
  • suffix *-ós (Proto-Indo-European), 'Forms possessive adjectives from nouns.'

Ancestors

• *-os (Proto-Indo-European)
• *-ós (Proto-Indo-European)

Updated June 2026

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