Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “crust” come from?

Crust comes from Middle English cruste, from Old French cruste, from Latin crusta, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European krustós and krews-.

crust (English): A more solid, dense or hard layer on a surface or...

Definitions

  1. A more solid, dense or hard layer on a surface or...

Ancestry of “crust”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcruste—
2Anglo-Normancruste—
3LatincrustaThe hard surface of a body; rind, shell, crust,...
4Proto-Italic*krustos—
5Proto-Indo-Europeankrustóshardened
6Proto-Indo-Europeankrews-to form a crust, begin to freeze

Words derived from “crust”

  • crustal
  • piecrust
  • crustless
  • shortcrust
  • duricrust
  • Lincrusta
  • subcrustal
  • breadcrust
  • crustlike
  • intracrustal
  • crustation
  • decrust
  • noncrustal
  • biocrust
  • kissing-crust
  • crustquake
Every word from Proto-Indo-European krews- →