Where does “crescendo” come from?
Crescendo comes from Italian crescendo, the present participle of Italian crescere, from Latin cresco meaning to grow or increase, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱer-.
crescendo (English): An instruction to play gradually more loudly,...
Definitions
- An instruction to play gradually more loudly,...
Ancestry of “crescendo”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | crescendo | growing, increasing; crescendo |
| 2 | Italian | crescere | to grow, increase, expand, cop on; to grow... |
| 3 | Latin | crēscō | to rise, grow, grow up; prosper, thrive; increase, multiply, augment |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | krēskō | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |