cry

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kraɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English crien,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French crier,^[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *critare,^[2][3] from Latin quirītāre (“to cry out, wail, shriek”), of uncertain origin,^[3][2] which also gave Italian gridare and Spanish gritar.^[3] It may be a variant of quirritare “to squeal like a pig”, from an echoic *quis.^[3] An ancient folk etymology, still given by several dictionaries, explained it as “to call on the Quirites, the Roman citizens, for help”.^[3][2][4][5] The noun is from Old French cri, from the verb.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To beg, implore”: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle, according to Barnhart;^[2] “to call out, utter” is from the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^[3] Word Origins also gives ask earnestly, ask loudly, as the first senses.^[4]

Semantic evolution

To make a noise of grief or pain is from about 1280.^[2] The sense “to shed tears”, which had belonged to weep, spread through the notion of a loud, vehement sound, and cry had largely replaced weep in everyday speech by the 16th century;^[3][2] Word Origins and Hoad date the sense of weeping itself to the mid-16th century.^[4][6] Cry one's eyes out is from 1704.^[3] The noun meant an announcement or proclamation in the late 13th century, and any loud utterance about 1300;^[3][7] a war cry is from the 1540s, the yelping of hounds from the 1530s, and a fit of weeping from 1852.^[3] A far cry, a long way, was a Scottish phrase popularized by Scott's Rob Roy (1817), from the notion of calling distance.^[3] Crier is from 1221 as a surname, and crybaby from 1851 in American English.^[2] Etymonline notes that Romance and Slavic languages instead use words that first meant “beat the breast”, as French pleurer.^[3]

Timeline

• a. 1200 – to beg, implore.^[2]
• 1221 – crier, as a surname.^[2]
• c. 1280 – to make a sound of grief; noun.^[2]
• 16th century – to weep.^[3][6]
• 1530s – the cry of hounds.^[3]
• 1540s – a war cry.^[3]
• 1704 – cry one's eyes out.^[3]
• 1817 – a far cry.^[3]
• 1851 – crybaby.^[2]
• 1852 – a fit of weeping.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To shed tears, as from grief or pain; to weep.
2. To call out loudly; to shout.
3. Of an animal, to make its characteristic call.
4. To demand urgently: a problem crying out for attention.
5. To announce in public: cry one's wares.
6. To beg for; to implore.

Noun

1. A loud sound expressing pain, fear or another strong feeling.
2. A loud call or shout.
3. A fit of weeping.
4. An urgent appeal or plea.
5. A slogan or rallying call.
6. The characteristic call of an animal.

Word family

• crybaby
• cry down
• cry off
• cry up
• battle cry
• far cry
• hue and cry

Related words

• crier
• decry
• outcry
• descry
• weep

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 c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press