crypt

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin crypta (“covered passage, vault, crypt”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek κρυπτή (kruptḗ, “vault”),^[2][3][4][7] the noun use of the feminine of κρυπτός (kruptós, “hidden”),^[2][4][8][9] from κρύπτω (krúptō, “to hide”).^[2][3][4][9] Etymonline and Klein take the Greek noun as short for a phrase meaning "hidden vault".^[3][7] The Greek verb is probably from the same base as Lithuanian kráuti (“to pile up”),^[2][3][10] but Etymonline reports Beekes's view that, lacking a good Indo-European etymology, it could be Pre-Greek.^[3] For the use of 1667, Barnhart allows a borrowing through French crypte;^[9] the OED compares Middle French cripte (before 1400) and French crypte (1610).^[2] The Latin word had been borrowed earlier into Old English as cruft.^[2] It is a doublet of grotto and grot.^[9][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An underground chamber or vault, especially one used for burial: before 1460, in Osbern Bokenham's Lives of Saints.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline find cripte, a grotto or cavern, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon, which Barnhart dates probably before 1425.^[9][3]

Semantic evolution

In late Middle English the word meant a cave or grotto as well as a vault,^[2][5][3] and Weekley notes that the cave sense came first.^[11] The architectural sense, a vault under a church used as a chapel or burial place, became established only in the late 18th century: Etymonline dates it by 1789,^[3][5] although Merriam-Webster's first date for the vault is 1583^[10] and Barnhart's main record is from Evelyn's diary in 1667.^[9] In anatomy a crypt has been a small pit or tubular recess, such as a gland, since 1804,^[2][10] and figurative uses for anything dark, deep or hidden date from 1827.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1460 – an underground chamber or vault, especially for burial.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the vault to 1583, and Barnhart's main record is from Evelyn's diary in 1667.^[10][9]
• c. 1475 – a cave or grotto, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[2] Barnhart dates it probably before 1425.^[9]
• 1789 – a burial vault or chapel under a church.^[3]
• 1804 – anatomy, a small pit or recess.^[2]
• 1827 – figurative, something dark or hidden.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An underground vault or chamber, especially one beneath a church, used as a chapel or burial place.^[12][10][2]
2. (anatomy) A small pit or recess in a surface, such as a simple gland or follicle.^[12][10][2]
3. (rare) A cave or grotto.^[2][5]

Word family

• undercrypt

Related words

• cryptic
• crypto-
• apocrypha
• grotto
• grot
• krypton
• undercroft

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins