Etymologically
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cremo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word cremo

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Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Ennius

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkrɛ.moː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkrɛː.mo][1]

Forms

cremō (present infinitive cremāre, perfect active cremāvī, supine cremātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] De Vaan takes it as a verb formed from a noun, and notes that a link with carbō “charcoal” is possible in theory but cannot be developed further.[3][4] The OLD compares Old Norse hyrr (“fire”) and Lithuanian kùrti (“to kindle”).[2] It may be related to Umbrian krematra, a kind of vessel, and Wiktionary mentions a root *kerh₃- “to burn”.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius, who speaks of Pergamum, which could not be burned when it was taken.[3][2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to destroy by fire or burn, as of cities, woods and books, and to burn sacrifices.[2][6] Its specific sense was to burn a corpse on the pyre, to cremate.[2] Cicero speaks of the dead cremated with humble burial, and Pliny the Elder notes that Sulla was the first of the patrician Cornelii to be cremated.[2]

Döderlein groups it with accendō, incendō and cōmbūrō, words for setting on fire.[7] Its derivative cremātiō gave English cremation, from which English cremate was formed in 1851.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of Pergamum not being burned.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of fire burning the woods.[9][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of cremating the dead.[2][5]
  • 1851 – English cremate is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To burn, consume by fire.[2]
  2. To cremate (a corpse).[2]
  3. To burn (a sacrifice).[6]

Word family

  • concremō
  • cremātiō
  • cremātor
  • cremitō
  • cremium
  • decremo
  • excremō
  • recremo
  • sēmicremātus
  • sēmicremus
  • flammicremus
  • tūricremus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Cremo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cremo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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