crisp

crisp · adjective, noun¹

1. Middle English · inherited fromcrisp“light, crinkled fabric; kind of pastry; crinkliness or roughness of skin”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kris-
3. Latin · derived fromcrispus“of hair: crimped, curly”
4. Old English · inherited fromcrisp“curly”
5. Middle English · inherited fromcrisp“curly, wavy”
6. English todaycrisp

The adjective is derived partly from the following: * Etymology 1, adjective sense 1: Middle English crisp (“curly, wavy”), from Old English crisp (“curly”), from Latin crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kris-, from *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”). * Etymology 1, adjective sense 2: from the above, and probably also onomatopoeic, representing a crinkling or crunching sound. Doublet of crape and crepe. Adjective etymology 1, adjective sense 2.2.3 (“of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry”) is transferred from a description of frost or snow as “crisp”, that is, crunchy. The noun is derived partly from the following: * Middle English crisp (“light, crinkled fabric; kind of pastry; crinkliness or roughness of skin”), from crisp (adjective) (see above). * Modern English crisp (adjective) (“having a consistency which is hard yet brittle”).

crisp · verb²

1. Latin · derived fromcrīspō“to crimp; to curl”
2. Old English · inherited fromcirpsian“to curl, crisp”
3. Middle English · inherited fromcrispen“to curl; of hair: to be curly”
4. English todaycrisp

Partly from the following: * Etymology 2 sense 1: crisp (adjective; see etymology 1). * Etymology 2 sense 2: Late Middle English crispen (“to curl; of hair: to be curly”), from Old English cirpsian (“to curl, crisp”), from Latin crīspō (“to crimp; to curl”), from crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”, adjective) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

Words from the same roots