Where does “crevasse” come from?
Crevasse comes from French crevasse, from Old French crever with the suffix -ace, from Latin crepare meaning to burst or crack, from the Proto-Indo-European root ḱer- meaning to break.
crevasse (English): A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a...
Definitions
- A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a...
Ancestry of “crevasse”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | crevasse | crevasse; first-person singular imperfect... |
| 2 | Old French | crevace | crevasse |
| 3 | Old French | crever | to burst; to die |
| 4 | Latin | crepō | to rattle, rustle, clatter |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱorh₂- | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |