Etymology

croissant

crois·sant
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Today it means: A flaky roll or pastry in a form of a crescent. Full definition →

French croissant ← Old French croisant ← Latin crēscentem
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱer-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱreh₁-sḱéti
  3. Latincrēscō
  4. Latincrēscentem
  5. Old Frenchcreissant
  6. Old Frenchcroisant
  7. Frenchcroissant
  8. English todaycroissant

Unadapted borrowing from French croissant (“crescent”), present participle of croître (“to grow”). Doublet of crescent.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.