Etymology

criminalize

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Today it means: To make (something) a crime; to make illegal under criminal law; to ban. Full definition →

English criminal ← Middle English cryminal ← Anglo-Norman crimina
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*krey-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kréymn̥
  3. Proto-Italic*kreimən
  4. Latincrīmen
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Late Latincrimināli
  8. Anglo-Normancrimina
  9. Middle Englishcryminal
  10. Englishcriminal
  11. English todaycriminalize

From criminal + -ize.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.