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écrier

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Etymology and origin of the French word écrier

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
950–1000 Passion de Clermont More words from the 10th century
Ultimate origin
Latin quirītō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French crier
French écrier
From the same root
French cri ← crier

Pronunciation

Forms

écrier[1] Old French escrider (10th century) and escrier; the modern spelling s'écrier dates from the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French é- + crier, with the prefix in an intensive sense.[2][4][5][3] Crier goes back to Latin quirītō (“to cry out”).[6][7] Wiktionary adds that the Old French verb may partly continue Frankish *skrīan (“to yell, cry out”).[1]

Littré compares Old Occitan esgridar and Italian sgridare.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Passion de Clermont (second half of the 10th century), is transitive: escrided Jesus granz criz “Jesus cried out great cries”.[2][3] The reflexive s'escriet and the sense “to cry out (a word)” are both in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100): A icest mot sunt Franceis escriet “At this word the French cried out”.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant to let out loud sudden cries of pain, anger and the like, and then above all to say something in a loud, moved voice.[9] The Old French verb was also transitive, “to call out to”, as in Joinville's il les escria “he shouted at them”.[8] In classical usage s'écrier also meant to cry out in joy or admiration.[3][8]

It gave se récrier (about 1160), first “to raise a war cry”, then in 1663 “to exclaim”, especially in protest.[9]

Timeline

  • 950–1000 – Escrided in the Passion de Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland has escriet and the reflexive s'escriet.[2]
  • c. 1160 – The derivative se récrier.[9]
  • 17th century – The spelling s'écrier.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (pronominal) S'écrier: to exclaim, say in a loud and emotional voice, as in « Au secours ! » s'écria-t-il.[5][1]
  2. (pronominal) To cry out, shout, under a strong feeling, as in Les enfants se sont écriés de joie.[2][1][8]

Word family

  • récrier

Usage notes

The verb is used only in the pronominal form s'écrier.[5][2] A separate technical verb écrier (1768) “to clean wire with a sandstone rag”, formed from é- and cru2 “unprepared”, is recorded by the Grand Robert and the GLLF.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1486a
  8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Écrier.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9crier. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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