Etymologically
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crayon

Etymology and origin of the French word crayon

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1309, croion
Ultimate origin
Latin (crēta)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin creta
French craie
French crayon
English crayon

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kʁɛ.jɔ̃/[1]
  • IPA: /kʁe.jɔ̃/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /kɾe.jɔ̃/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /kɾi.jɔ̃/[1]

Forms

crayon m (plural crayons)[1] Croion (1309), créon (the usual spelling in the 16th and 17th centuries); crayon from 1611 in Cotgrave and fixed by 1704.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from French craie + -on,[5][6][2][4][1] from Latin crēta (“chalk, clay”).[6][1][7] Cognate with Italian creta and Spanish greda, which kept the sense “clay” as well as “chalk”.[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1309 croion named a kind of chalky soil.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In 1528 créon is a stick of chalk-like material for drawing and writing,[2][3][6] and the word came to cover all such sticks of coloured minerals, then the wooden pencil with a graphite lead.[3][4] In the 16th century it also meant a sketch or outline: Montaigne writes of painting black and white “with the same creon”.[9][3]

Further senses are a pencil drawing, an artist's manner (un crayon large), and in medicine a stick of caustic (1833).[9][10] The verb crayonner “to sketch” is from 1584.[6]

Timeline

  • 1309 – Croion, a chalky earth.[2][3]
  • 1528 – Créon, a stick for drawing.[2][3]
  • 1584 – Crayonner.[6]
  • 1611 – The spelling crayon in Cotgrave.[3]
  • 1676 – Porte-crayon.[6]
  • 1704 – Crayon becomes the standard spelling.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pencil.[4][1]
  2. A stick of coloured material for drawing: crayon de couleur, crayon pastel.[4][11]
  3. A drawing in pencil or chalk.[9][4]
  4. (medicine, cosmetics) A stick of a substance: crayon hémostatique, crayon khôl.[1][10]
  5. (soil science) A light, chalky soil, as in Champagne.[12]

Word family

  • crayonnage
  • crayonner
  • crayonneur
  • porte-crayon
  • taille-crayon

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1330b
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ 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

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Crayon.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/crayon. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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