Etymologically
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crème

Etymology and origin of the French word crème

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1190, Evrat (craime)
Inherited from
Latin crama via Old French
Ultimate origin
Gaulish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kʁɛm/[1]

Forms

crème f (plural crèmes)[1] Old French craime (about 1190), cresme (1261); crème from the 17th century[2][3][4]. The long vowel recalls the lost ⟨s⟩ of cresme.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French craime, inherited from Late Latin crāma (6th century, Venantius Fortunatus),[2][3][5][6] a word of Gaulish origin: from Gaulish;[2][3][5][1] Bloch and Wartburg compare Welsh crammen (“scab”).[5] It was crossed early with Church Latin Ecclesiastical Latin chrisma (“anointing oil”), from Greek, which gave chrême.[2][3][5][1] “Crama” replaced classical “cremor lactis”.[3] The word also lives in Rhaeto-Romance and northern Italian dialects.[5]

English cream comes from Old French.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Evrat's Genèse (about 1190) has craime for the fat that rises on milk.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively, la crème is the best part of something (Montaigne, 1580): la crème des hommes “the best of men”.[2][7][4] Cooking named preparations such as crème fouettée and crème chantilly, and also from 1802 creamy desserts.[4][7][3] Café à la crème (1822, café crème 1898) became familiar un crème.[3][1]

The invariable adjective crème means “cream-coloured”.[1] Derivatives include écrémer (14th century), crémeux (1578), crémier and crémerie (1849).[5]

Timeline

  • 6th century – Late Latin crama.[2][3]
  • c. 1190 – Craime.[2][6]
  • 1261 – Cresme (Rutebeuf).[2]
  • 1580 – “The best part” (Montaigne).[2][4]
  • 1822 – Café à la crème.[3]
  • 1849 – Crémerie.[5]
  • 1898 – Café crème.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Cream, the fat of milk: crème fraîche, crème fouettée.[7][1]
  2. A creamy dessert.[7]
  3. (Louisiana) Ice cream.[1]
  4. La crème de: the best of: la crème des hommes.[7][2]
  5. (colloquial) A white coffee, un crème.[1][3]

Adjective

  1. Cream-coloured (invariable).[1]

Word family

  • crémer
  • crémerie
  • crémeux
  • crémier
  • écrémer
  • écrémage

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Crème.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cr%C3%A8me. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·