Etymologically
Log in

craie

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 17:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kʁɛ/[1]

Forms

craie f (plural craies)[1] Old French creide (11th century), croie (about 1175), crée (early 14th century); craye in the Académie of 1694.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French croie, inherited from Latin crēta (“chalk; white clay”),[2][3][5][4][1][6] a word of unknown origin, also the source of German Kreide.[3] In Gallo-Romance it kept only the sense “chalk”,[5] while Italian creta and Spanish greda also mean “clay”.[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rashi's glosses (late 11th century) have creide for chalk,[2] and Chrétien de Troyes writes croie (about 1175).[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Besides the soft white limestone, the word names the stick of chalk used for drawing (craie rouge, 1538) and for writing on a slate or blackboard.[3][8] In Old French it was also a symbol of purity.[3] In late 19th-century slang a bill run up at a restaurant was a craie, like ardoise, from the chalk marks on the slate.[3]

Derivatives include crayeux (13th century), crayère “chalk pit”, used as a champagne cellar (early 14th century), and crayon.[5][2]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Creide (Rashi).[2][4]
  • c. 1175 – Croie.[2]
  • early 14th century – Crée, and craiere “chalk pit”.[4][2]
  • 1538 – Craie rouge.[3]
  • 1866 – A stick of chalk for writing.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Chalk, the soft white limestone.[9][1]
  2. A stick of chalk for writing or drawing.[9][8]

Word family

  • crayeux
  • crayon
  • crayonneur
  • porte-crayon

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1330a
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert