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creo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word creo

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkre.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkrɛː.o][1]

Forms

creō (present infinitive creāre, perfect active creāvī, supine creātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It goes back to Proto-Italic *krē-jā- and is related to crēscō “to grow” and crēber “dense”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- (“to grow”).[2][1][3] De Vaan takes the original meaning to be “to make grow”, still seen in Cato.[2] Walde and Hofmann explained it as a denominative from a noun *krējā; a later proposal derives it inside Latin as a causative made to crēscō, which de Vaan finds too far-fetched.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2] who uses it in the sense “to cause, bring about”, as of giving pleasure to one's enemies.[4] Cato still uses it of manure that makes grass grow.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant to beget and give birth, with the passive “to be born of”.[4][5] Lucretius and Cicero used it of nature or a god bringing things into being, and it was extended to instituting offices and conceiving ideas.[4] A political sense was frequent: to elect or appoint a magistrate, said both of the voters and of the official holding the election.[4][5]

Christian writers gave it the sense of creating out of nothing, and Augustine distinguishes it from gignere “to beget”.[3][1] From it came creator and creatura, and through French it gave English create and English creature.[1][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for causing a state of affairs.[4][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of manure that makes grass grow.[2][4][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius states that nothing can be created from nothing.[8][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for electing consuls.[4][7]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine explains it as making, not begetting.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To beget, give birth to, or (in the passive) to be born, spring from.[4][5]
  2. To bring into being, create; to institute (an office), conceive (an idea).[4]
  3. To make grow, produce (plants, tissue).[4]
  4. To cause, bring about.[4]
  5. To elect, appoint (a magistrate).[4][5]
  6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To create out of nothing.[3][1]

Word family

  • concreō
  • creābilis
  • creāmen
  • creātiō
  • creātor
  • creātrīx
  • creātūra
  • increatus
  • prōcreō
  • recreō
  • supercreatus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Creo.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/creo. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·