Etymologically
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croix

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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