croire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kʁwaʁ/^[1]
• IPA: /kʁwɑʁ/^[1]

Forms

croire^[1] Old French credre (about 980), creire (1080), croire (12th century).^[2][3][4] In 1703 the pronunciation crere was still given; on the stage je croa was said.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French creire, inherited from Latin crēdō (“to entrust; to trust; to believe”).^[2][6][3][7] The Latin verb was an old religious term of Indo-European origin, preserved only in Indo-Iranian (Vedic “śraddadhāti”) and Italo-Celtic (Old Irish “cretim”, Welsh “credaf” “I believe”).^[2][5] Darmesteter, cited by Littré, analysed it as “I give my heart”, from the root of “heart” and “-dō” “I give”.^[5] Like fidēs, “crēdere” early took secular uses, “to trust someone”, “to entrust something to someone”, hence “to lend” (whence crédit), and “to believe someone or something”.^[2] Christianity gave it back a religious role, “crēdō” translating Ancient Greek πιστεύω (pisteúō).^[2] The construction “croire en” goes back to Church Latin “credere in deum”.^[7]

Cognate with Romanian crede, Italian credere, Occitan creire, Catalan creure, Spanish creer and Portuguese crer.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the second half of the 10th century, in the Vie de saint Léger, credre in Deu means “to believe in God”, and credre + object “to accept something as true”; the Passion de Clermont has credre “to believe (someone's words)”.^[9][4]

Semantic evolution

En croire qqn dates from the middle of the 11th century, and en croire ses yeux from the 12th (Chrétien de Troyes).^[9] Croire à (Pascal, before 1662) is used of things or ideas one believes real.^[9] The intransitive croire “to have faith” is found in the first half of the 12th century, and the noun le croire in 1622.^[9]

Derivatives include créance (11th century), croyance (14th century, Oresme), mécréant (12th century) and recru “worn out” (about 1080), from the old verb se recroire “to give in”.^[7] English recreant “coward” comes from recroire.^[8]

Timeline

• 2nd half of 10th century – Credre in Deu in the Vie de saint Léger.^[9]
• c. 1050 – En croire qqn, créance.^[9][7]
• 1080 – The form creire in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• 12th century – The form croire.^[4]
• 14th century – Croyance in Oresme.^[7]
• before 1662 – Croire à in Pascal.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To believe, to accept as true: croire une histoire.^[8][4]
2. To believe (someone), to trust their word: je te crois.^[1][9]
3. To think, to suppose: je crois qu'il viendra, croire + infinitive: il croit avoir raison.^[4]
4. Croire à: to believe in (the reality or worth of something): croire au progrès.^[1][9]
5. Croire en: to believe in, to have faith in: croire en Dieu.^[1][7]
6. Se croire: to think oneself: il se croit malin.^[1]

Word family

• accroire
• créance
• croyance
• mécréant
• recru
• incroyable
• croyant

Related words

• crédit
• crédule
• credo
• Latin crēdō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1298b
7. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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