Where does “crucify” come from?

Crucify comes from Middle English crucifien, from Old French crucefier, from Late Latin crucificare, from Latin crucifigo, ultimately from Latin crux meaning cross, derived from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- and sek-.

crucify (English): To execute by nailing to a cross; To punish or...

Definitions

  1. To execute by nailing to a cross; To punish or...

Ancestry of “crucify”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishcrucifienTo crucify
2Old Frenchcrucefierto crucify
3Late Latincrucificare—
4LatincrucifigoI crucify, fix on a cross
5Latincruxwooden frame on which criminals were crucified,...
6Proto-Italic*kruks—
7Proto-Indo-Europeansḱer-to caw, crow

Words derived from “crucify”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sḱer- →Every word from Proto-Italic *kruks →Every word from Latin crux →