From Middle English crien, from Old French crier ("to announce publicly, proclaim, scream, shout") (whence Medieval Latin crīdō ("to cry out, shout, publish, proclaim")), probably from Frankish *krītan, from Proto-Germanic *krītaną ("to cry out, shout"), from Proto-Indo-European *greyd- ("to shout"). Cognate with Saterland Frisian kriete ("to cry"), Dutch krijten ("to cry") and krijsen, German Low German krieten ("to cry, call out, shriek"), German kreißen ("to cry loudly, wail, groan"), Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 ("to cry, scream, call out"), Latin gingrītus ("the cackling of geese"), Middle Irish grith ("a cry"), Welsh gryd ("a scream"), Persian گریه ("to cry"), Sanskrit क्रन्दन ("cry, lamentation").
Alternate etymology connects the Medieval Latin word to Latin queror ("to complain") through the form quiritō, though the phonetic and semantic developments are difficult to trace.
Middle English crien eventually displaced native Middle English galen ("to cry out") (from Old English galan), Middle English greden ("to cry out") (from Old English grǣdan), Middle English yermen ("to bellow, mourn, lament") (from Old English ġierman), Middle English hoen ("to cry out") (from Old Norse hóa), Middle English remen ("to cry, shout") (from Old English hrīeman, compare Old English hrēam ("noise, outcry, lamentation, alarm")), Middle English gretan ("to weep, cry, lament") (from Old English grǣtan and Old Norse gráta). More at greet, regret.
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