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croix

Etymology and origin of the French word croix

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
2nd half of the 10th century, Passion de Clermont
Inherited from
Latin crux via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (crux)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin crux
English crux
French croix
French croiser

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kʁwa/[1]

Forms

croix f (invariable)[1] Old French croiz, crois, cruiz.[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French croiz, inherited from Latin crux (“cross, gibbet; torment”), through its accusative crucem.[4][5][6][1] The Latin word named several instruments of execution: the stake, the gallows, the cross.[5] Crucifixion appears at Rome at the time of the Punic Wars, whence the suggestion that the word is of Punic origin; the Petit Robert calls its origin obscure.[5][7] In Christian Latin it named the cross of Christ, its representation and the sign of the cross; already in classical Latin it meant “torment, punishment”.[4][5]

Cognate with Italian croce, Romanian cruce, Old Occitan crotz, Catalan creu, Spanish cruz and Portuguese cruz.[7][6] Littré gives Walloon creûs and Picard cros.[3] The Latin word also lies behind Basque gurutze, Breton kroaz, English cross, Dutch kruis and German Kreuz.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (second half of the 10th century) uses it for the gibbet of two perpendicular posts, and especially for the cross of Christ; the Vie de saint Léger, of the same time, for a crucifix.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

Religious and symbolic senses grew from the cross of the Passion: signe de croix (13th century), porter sa croix “to bear one's cross” (1541, Calvin) and faire la croix sur le dos “to say goodbye to, give up” (1579), now lost.[5][4] Prendre la croix was to join the crusade (about 1207, Villehardouin), and the verb croiser took the same sense.[4][5] The cross became the badge of orders and honours: croix de Malte (1680), avoir la croix of the Legion of Honour (1836, Stendhal), the Croix-Rouge (1864).[4][5]

From the shape came en croix (about 1160) and a mark made of two crossed strokes (about 1395), whence faire une croix sur “to give up for good” (1851, Murger).[4][5] The old form of pile ou face was pile ou croix, one side of the coin bearing a cross.[5] C'est la croix et la bannière “it's a terrible business” is recorded by Furetière in 1690.[9]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 10th century – The gibbet and the cross of Christ, in the Passion of Clermont.[4]
  • c. 1160 – En croiz “crosswise”, in the Roman d'Eneas.[4]
  • c. 1207 – Prendre la croix, in Villehardouin.[4]
  • 13th century – Signe de croix.[4][5]
  • c. 1395 – A cross-shaped mark on a writing.[4]
  • 1541 – Porter sa croix, in Calvin.[4]
  • 1680 – A dignity of the Order of Malta, in Richelet.[4]
  • 1690 – La croix et la bannière, in Furetière.[9]
  • 1836 – Avoir la croix of the Legion of Honour, in Stendhal.[4]
  • 1851 – Faire une croix sur le passé, in Murger.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cross, the gibbet of a post and a crossbeam used for executions in Roman times, la Croix, the cross of Christ.[7][4]
  2. A representation of the cross, a crucifix; a cross set up by a road or on a grave.[4][7]
  3. Signe de croix: the sign of the cross, chemin de croix, the Stations of the Cross.[7][1]
  4. (figurative) A trial, an affliction: porter sa croix.[4][1]
  5. The badge of an order or decoration: croix de guerre, croix de la Légion d'honneur.[4][5]
  6. Any figure of two crossing lines; a mark made of two crossed strokes: faire une croix sur, to give up for good.[4][1]
  7. (heraldry) A cross as a charge.[1]
  8. Named kinds of cross: croix grecque, latine, de Saint-André, de Lorraine, gammée (the swastika).[5][1]
  9. C'est la croix et la bannière: it is a terrible business.[9][1]

Word family

  • croiser
  • croisillon
  • croisade
  • croisement
  • croisière
  • cruciforme
  • crucifix
  • crucial
  • Latin crux
  • English cross

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u 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
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Derived terms

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Croix.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/croix. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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