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crosswise

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Etymology and origin of the English word crosswise

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1400 Langland, Piers Plowman (C text) More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origins
Old Norse krossEnglish -wise
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English cross
English crosswise
From the same root
English crossroads ← cross

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkrɒswaɪz/[1]
  • US: /ˈkrɑːswaɪz/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English croswise,[2] formed from English cross + -wise,[3][4][2][5] probably partly from the noun and partly from the adjective cross.[3] In early use it appears in the phrase “on cross-wise”, and the OED compares the earlier adverbial phrase “in a cross wise”, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's “Polychronicon” (before 1387); Dictionary.com likewise derives it from the Middle English phrase “a cross wise”, in the form of a cross.[3][6] The OED also compares Middle Dutch crucewīse, Middle High German kriuzewīs and German kreuzweise, all used for "in the shape of a cross, so as to intersect".[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the shape of a cross; so as to intersect: about 1400, in a manuscript of Langland's Piers Plowman (composed perhaps before 1387).[3] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century,[4] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to the 14th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

From "in the form of a cross" the word spread to the more general "across, from side to side or corner to corner", recorded from before 1460 in Bokenham's Lives of Saints.[3] William Webbe (1586) used it once for "alternately".[3] From 1594 it had a figurative sense, "wrongly, perversely", later also "in opposition, differently";[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives the example things are going crosswise.[2] The adjective, "placed or running across, transverse", is recorded from 1830 in the OED;[3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1883.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged now labels the original sense "in the form of a cross" archaic.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – in the shape of a cross; so as to intersect.[3]
  • before 1460 – across, from side to side; transversely or diagonally.[3]
  • 1586 – alternately (obsolete).[3]
  • 1594 – figuratively, wrongly, perversely; later in opposition.[3]
  • 1830 – adjective, placed or running across, transverse.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. So as to cross something; across, from side to side or diagonally: Cut the carrots crosswise into thin rounds.[7][2][3]
  2. In the shape of a cross; so as to intersect.[7][3][5]
  3. In a way contrary to what is right or intended; perversely, or in opposition.[2][3]

Adjective

  1. Lying or running across; transverse or diagonal: a crosswise beam.[2][3][7]
  • crossways
  • crossway
  • cross
  • -wise

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Crosswise.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/crosswise. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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