Where does “accrue” come from?
Accrue comes from Middle English acrewen, from Old French acreue and accreistre meaning "to increase," from Latin accresco "to grow toward," formed from the prefix ad- and the root cresco "to grow," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂éd.
accrue (English): To increase, to rise; to reach or come to by way...
Definitions
- To increase, to rise; to reach or come to by way...
Ancestry of “accrue”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | acrewen | To come into one's possession; to accrue |
| 2 | Old French | acreue | — |
| 3 | Old French | accreistre | To increase |
| 4 | Latin | accrēscō | to grow, increase |
| 5 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 6 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 7 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 8 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |