cream

Where does the word "cream" come from? It comes from Late Latin chrisma, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

Cream’s story begins in Late Latin: chrisma meant “anointing oil.” Consecrated anointing oil, from Greek; it blended with a Gaulish word 'crama'. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as cresme. The mixed word came to mean the rich top layer of milk. It reached English by 1300s as cream. The sense 'the best part', as in 'cream of the crop', followed. Today, cream means the thick, fatty part of milk; the best of a group.

1. Stage 1 · Late Latin · ancient chrisma "anointing oil", consecrated anointing oil, from Greek; it blended with a Gaulish word 'crama'.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval cresme "cream", the mixed word came to mean the rich top layer of milk.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s cream "the fatty part of milk", the sense 'the best part', as in 'cream of the crop', followed.