英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

creme de la creme (n.)[creme de la creme 词源字典]: "elite, finest flower of society," 1848, from French crème de la crème, literally "the cream of the cream" (see cream (n.)).[creme de la creme etymology, creme de la creme origin, 英语词源]
crenel (n.): "open space on an embattlement," early 14c., from Old French crenel (12c.), apparently a diminutive of cren "notch" (see cranny).
crenelate (v.): early 14c., from French créneler, from crénelé (12c.); see crenel. Sometimes also crenellate; the double -l- seems to be from a presumed Latin *crenella as a diminutive of crena. Related: Crenelated (1823), also crenellated; crenellation (1849). Earlier formes of the past participle adjective included carneled.
crenelated (adj.): 1823, past participle adjective from crenelate.
creole (n.): c. 1600, from French créole (17c.), from Spanish criollo "person native to a locality," from Portuguese crioulo, diminutive of cria "person (especially a servant) raised in one's house," from criar "to raise or bring up," from Latin creare "to produce, create" (see create).

The exact sense varies with local use. Originally with no connotation of color or race; Fowler (1926) writes: "Creole does not imply mixture of race, but denotes a person either of European or (now rarely) of negro descent born and naturalized in certain West Indian and American countries." In U.S. use, applied to descendants of French and Spanish settlers in Louisiana from at least 1792. Of languages, from 1879. As an adjective, from 1748.
creosote (n.): 1835, from German Kreosot, coined 1832 by its discoverer, German-born natural philosopher Carl Ludwig, Baron Reichenbach (1788-1869), from Greek kreo-, comb. form of kreas "flesh" (see raw) + soter "preserver," from soizein "save, preserve." So called because it was used as an antiseptic.
crepe (n.): 1797, from French crêpe, from Old French crespe (14c.), from Latin crispa, fem. of crispus "curled, wrinkled" (see crisp (adj.)). Meaning "small, thin pancake" is from 1877. Crepe paper is first attested 1895.
crepitation (n.): 1650s, noun of action from Latin crepitare "to crackle," frequentative of crepare "to crack, creak" (see raven). In medical use from 1834.
crepitus (n.): c. 1810, from Latin crepitus "a rattling, creaking;" another word for crepitation, which is from the same root.
crept: past tense and past participle of creep (v.).
crepuscular (adj.): figurative use from 1660s; literal use from 1755, from Latin crepusculum "twilight, dusk," from creper "dusky," which is of unknown origin. Especially of evening twilight.
crepuscule (n.): late 14c., from Old French crépuscule (13c.), from Latin crepusculum.
crescendo (n.): 1776 as a musical term, from Italian crescendo "increasing," from Latin crescendo, ablative of gerund of crescere "to increase" (see crescent). Figurative use is from 1785. As a verb, from 1900.
crescent (n.): late 14c., "crescent-shaped ornament," from Anglo-French cressaunt, from Old French creissant "crescent of the moon" (12c., Modern French croissant), from Latin crescentum (nominative crescens), present participle of crescere "come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell, increase in numbers or strength," from PIE root *ker- (3) "to grow" (cognates: Latin Ceres, goddess of agriculture, creare "to bring forth, create, produce;" Greek kouros "boy," kore "girl;" Armenian serem "bring forth," serim "be born").

Applied in Latin to the waxing moon, luna crescens, but subsequently in Latin mistaken to refer to the shape, not the stage. The original Latin sense is preserved in crescendo. A badge or emblem of the Turkish sultans (probably chosen for its suggestion of "increase"); figurative sense of "Muslim political power" is from 1580s, but modern writers often falsely associate it with the Saracens of the Crusades or the Moors of Spain. Horns of the waxing moon are on the viewer's left side; those of the waning moon are on his right.
cress (n.): Old English cresse, originally cærse, from Proto-Germanic *krasjon- (cognates: Middle Low German kerse, karse; Middle Dutch kersse; Old High German kresso, German Kresse), from PIE root *gras- "to devour" (see gastric). It underwent a metathesis similar to that of grass. French cresson, Italian crescione are Germanic loan-words.
crest (n.): early 14c., from Old French creste "tuft, comb" (Modern French crête), from Latin crista "tuft, plume," perhaps related to word for "hair" (such as crinis), but it also was used for crest of a cock or a helmet. Replaced Old English hris.
crest (v.): late 14c., "provide with a crest," from Old French crester, from creste (see crest (n.)). Meaning "to come over the top of" is from 1832. Related: Crested; cresting.
crestfallen (adj.): 1580s, past participle adjective, but the verb crestfall is recorded only from 1610s, in reference to diseased horses, and is rare. It's possible that the image behind this use of the word is not cocks, as often is asserted, but horses.
cretaceous (adj.): 1670s, "chalky," from Latin cretaceus "chalk-like," from creta "chalk." As a geological period (with a capital C-), it was first used 1832. The extensive chalk beds of southeastern England were laid down during the Cretaceous.
Cretan (n.): Old English Cretense (plural), from Latin Cretanus (singular); see Crete. They were proverbial in ancient times as liars; compare Greek kretismos "lying," literally "Cretan behavior."