Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kriˈeɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English createn,[2][3] borrowed from Latin creātus, the past participle of creāre (“to make, bring forth, produce, beget”),[4][5][6] related to crēscere (“to arise, grow”) and to the goddess Ceres,[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“to grow”).[4][2] De Vaan writes that the original meaning of creāre was “to make grow”.[4] In English it was first used as a past participle, creat “created”, extended with -ed.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of God, “to bring into being”: about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,[5] or about 1386.[8] Etymonline dates the verb to the early 15th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

From God's creation the verb widened to making or forming anything, including institutions and laws, from 1592,[8] and to causing or giving rise to a condition from 1599.[8] To create a person a peer or knight, investing them with a rank, is from about 1460.[8] An actor creates a role by being the first to play it, from 1882,[8] and a designer creates a costume or dish from 1930.[8] In British slang, “to make a fuss” is from 1919.[8] In Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialect, dust was said to create, “gather, settle”.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – of God, to bring into being.[5]
  • c. 1390 – creation.[5]
  • c. 1460 – to invest with a rank.[8]
  • 1592 – to make or form anything.[8]
  • 1599 – to give rise to.[8]
  • 1678 – creative.[5]
  • 1882 – of an actor, to create a role.[8]
  • 1919 – to make a fuss (slang).[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To bring into existence.
  2. To give rise to; to produce: create problems.
  3. To make something through artistic or imaginative effort.
  4. To give someone a title or rank: was created a baron.
  5. (British slang) To make a fuss.

Word family

  • creatable
  • discreate
  • increate
  • miscreate
  • creation
  • creationism
  • creative
  • creativity
  • creator
  • creatural
  • creature
  • creaturely
  • procreate
  • recreate
  • re-create
  • recreation
  • crescent
  • increase
  • Ceres
  • cereal

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)