Etymology

criminology

C3R1I1M3I1N1O1L1O1G2Y4

Today it means: The study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour. Full definition →

Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) ← Proto-Hellenic *lógos ← Proto-Indo-European *lóǵos
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

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. Proto-Indo-European*leǵ-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*lóǵos
  13. Proto-Hellenic*lógos
  14. Ancient Greekλόγος (lógos)
  15. English todaycriminology

From criminal + -logy.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.