Etimologia da palavra "Crise"

Oral Expression III
An etymological research about the meaning
of the word “Crisis”

Hypotheses
Sanskrit origin (KRI):
crisis x crucible (Sanskrit)
crise (crisis) x crisol (melting pot) /
krísis (κρίση ) x khrysos (Χρυσος) (gold)
crisis = danger + opportunity in Mandarin

Methodology
Research in dictionaries
Data collection by means of
questionnaires
Research in scientific papers

“Tragedy or drama?”,
by Leonardo Boff
Brazil and the whole world find themselves immersed in a
deep crisis. It's not just structural but relational, since it
destroys our sense of living together. It could be a tragedy,
which could have a devastating ending, like in Greek theatre,
or a drama with a happy conclusion, as in the Christian
liturgy. Whether it is one or the other depends on us and our
ability to decide. But there is a growing awareness that we
are approaching the moment when we must decide, or else
the crisis will no longer be able to be drama but will change
into a collective tragedy.(...)

Sanskrit...
Crisis represents purification and an opportunity for
growth. We don't have to resort to the Chinese word
"crisis" to know its meaning. It's enough to remember the
Sanskrit — the womb of our language. In Sanskrit, "crisis"
comes from kir or kri, which means to purify and clean. From
kri comes "crucible", a chemical element with which we
cleanse cheap gold, and to refine means to purify.
Therefore crisis is a critical process — the purification of
the essence. Only what is real and substantial remains.
What is transient and added on disappears. Another order
is built from the essence.

Greek...
But no process of purification can occur without
cuts and breaks. That is why a decision is
needed. The decision produces a break with the
past and inaugurates the new. At this point the
Greek meaning of "crisis" can help us. Krisis,
"crisis" in Greek, means the decision made by a
judge or a doctor. The judge weighs and
evaluates the pros and cons and the doctor
considers the combination of various symptoms
and then they each decide the type of sentence
or ailment. This decision making process is called
"crisis". (…)

Brazil...
Brazil postpones its crises because its
leaders, even under the PT, lack the historic
boldness to make the decisions that place a
roadblock in the path of evil. They always
make concessions under the guise of
governability, thus preserving the privileges of
the elite. (...)
BOFF, Leonardo. Tragedy or drama? Retrieved from <
http://leonardoboff.com/siteeng/vista/2004/jan23.htm>.

Collection of Synchronic Data
(1) “Crisis is a change that happens in difficult conditions”
(4) “Crisis for me is the fight between reason and my will”
(5) “For me, crisis is the lack of harmony of our being with the
environment inside which we live or the conflict between both parts and
then it involves professional, sentimental, spiritual and familiar issues”
(6) "Crisis is a situation in which something stable risks ceasing to
exist as it is. So, crisis is the instability that represents a risk to
something.”
(7) “An incident that requires attention.”

(8) “It is something that has run away from what had been planned, then it
brings about a crisis. It may be something that doesn’t want to come to
consensus with another thing, then a crisis takes place between two persons.
Crisis may also be something existential, for example: I bought something for
some amount of money, I invested my money, and my expectations weren’t
fulfilled, that generates a crisis for the investor. That may be financial, physical,
sentimental or anything that escapes from what is being planned.”
(9) “ When anything is normal. Everything changed for the worse.”
(10) “It means problem”
(11) “Crisis is the peak of the problem.”
(12) “Crisis is a situation of a problem without an immediate or apparent
control.”

Concepts:
Houaiss – ‘crise’ (pt)
“crise s.f. (sXVIII) 1 MED o momento que define a evolução de uma doença
(para melhor ou pior) 2 MED dor paroxística, com distúrbio funcional em
um órgão. 3 estado de súbito desequilíbrio ou desajuste nervoso, emocional
<c. de nervos> <c. de choro> 4 eventual manifestação repentina de um
sentimento, agradável ou desagradável <c. de amabilidade, de ciúme> 5
estado de incerteza, vacilação ou declínio <c. de fé> 6 episódio desgastante,
complicado; situação de tensão, disputa, conflito <na c. albanesa, caiu o
governo maoísta> <envolveu-se em dilacerante c. amorosa> 7 situação de
falta, escassez, carência <c de matéria-prima> <c do abastecimento> 8
ECON grave desequilíbrio conjuntural entre a produção e o consumo,
acarretando aviltamento dos preços e/ou da moeda, onda de falências,
desemprego ect. 8.1 fase de transição entre um surto de prosperidade e outro
de depressão ou vice-versa. (...) ETIM lat. Crisis, is ‘momento de mudança
súbita, crise (MED)’, do gr. Krísis, eos ‘ação ou faculdade de distinguir,
decisão, momento difícil’

Concepts:
Napoleão ‘crise’ (pt)
“Hypocrisy: (...) the words comes from the
Greek ‘hypocrínomai’ that means “to interpret”.
Its cognates are the vernacular words ‘crisis’,
which etymologically means change, separation,
and critic, the art of ascertaining the truth.”

Etymology – ‘crise’ (pt)
“Crise, s. Do gr. Krisis <<acto ou faculdade de
distinguir; acto de escolher, escolha, eleição, ato de
separar, dissentimento, contestação; (...) acto de
decidir; decisão, julgamento (de uma questão, de uma
dúvida); (...) o que resolve qualquer coisa, solução,
decisão, resultado (de guerra); fase decisiva de doença,
crise; explicação, interpretação de sonho>>, pelo lat.
Crisis, usado sobretudo em sentido médico; houve
certamente intervenção do fr. Crise. Em 1813,
Morais”. (Machado, 1987)
Houaiss: crisis (lat)“momento de mudança súbita, crise
MED”. krísis (gr) “faculdade de distinguir, decisão,
momento difícil”.

Etymology – ‘crisis’ (eng)
•
“Early 15th century, from Latinized form of Greek
krisis "turning point in a disease" (used as such by
Hippocrates and Galen), literally "judgment, result of a
trial, selection," from krinein "to separate, decide,
judge," from PIE root *krei- "to sieve, discriminate,
distinguish" (cf. Greek krinesthai (...)). Transferred
non-medical sense is 1620s in English. (...)”
•
[Middle English, from Latin, judgment, from Greek
krisis, from krinein, to separate, judge; see krei- in Indo-
European roots.]

‘Crucible’
Crucible (n.)
1. A vessel made of a refractory substance such as graphite or
porcelain, used for melting and calcining materials at high
temperatures.
2. A severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial. (...)
3. A place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of
powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces:
"Macroeconomics . . . was cast in the crucible of the
Depression" (Peter Passell).
[Middle English crucible, from Medieval Latin crucibulum, night-
light, crucible, possibly from Old French croisuel, cresset; (...)]

Etymology – ‘crucible’ (eng)
“Crucible (n.): Early 15th century, from Medieval Latin
crucibulum "melting pot for metals," originally "night lamp."
First element might be Middle High German kruse "earthen
pot." Or perhaps it is from Latin crux on some fancied
resemblance to a cross. Used of any severe test or trial
since 1640s.”

‘Crisol’ (pt)
“crisol s.m. (1563) 1 recipiente utilizado para experiências químicas em que se
têm de misturar ou fundir substâncias, metais; cadinho. 2 p.metf. lugar ou
circunstância apropriada a evidenciar as melhores qualidades de algo ou
alguém. 3 p.metf. lugar ou circunstância apropriada a apurar os sentimentos.
(...) ETIM. Esp. ‘crisol’ ‘recipiente para fundir metais a temperatura elevada’”
(Houaiss, 2009)
Bueno: “espanhol, ‘crisol’; francês, ‘creuset’; italiano, ‘crogiólo’; provençal,
‘cruzol’ (...) Battisti e Alessio acham que vem do lat. chrysosylum (vas), do gr.
Khrysoylos de matéria de ouro (khrysos ouro; hylè, matéria). Foi no início um
vaso que servia para iluminação de igrejas”.
khrysos, (khrysos) “ouro”.

Acrisolar (to refine)
“acrisolar v. (1645-1647) 1 METAL t.d. tirar as impurezas
de (metal precioso), purificar no crisol; copilar. 2 t.d. e
pron./p.ext. dar ou adquirir qualidades superiores ou
excelentes, aperfeiçoar(-se), apurar(-se) <acrisolar a teoria
por meio da prática> <seu estilo de redigir acrisolou-se> 3
t.d. e pron. purificar(-se) moralmente por meio de provas,
dores, sofrimento. <os deuses acrisolam o homem>
<acrisolava-se com resignação, devido a sua crença
religiosa> ETIM a- + crisol + -ar” (Houaiss, 2009)

It is possible to verify that the Greek etymons for the
words crisis (eng) and crisol (port)/crucible (eng) are not
the same, which prevents us from contemplating a
potential relationship, based on the Greek etymons,
between these words.
“krísiv, ewv (h) 1 ação de separar, de distinguir; triagem 2
ação de escolher; escolha; seleção 3 ação de julgar, de
decidir; julgamento; decisão (...) 4 aptidão para decidir;
discernimento 5 Jur. julgamento; processo (...) 8 solução;
êxito; desenlace; resultado (...) 9 disputa; luta;
contestação 10 Medic. crise; fase crítica de uma doença
(...)” (Malhadas, Dezotti e Neves, 2008)

Partial considerations
‘crisol’ and ‘acrisolar’ (port): these words may
have originated from the Greek etymon Χρυσος
(gold), which transliterated becomes khrysos
(“Latin spelling: chrysus).They haven’t
originated from krísi.
Boff suggests the relationship between ‘crisis’
and ‘crucible/to refine’ (crisol/acrisolar) only
when he refers to a possible origin back in
Sanskrit.

Sanskrit
Meaning of the Sanskrit word Kri:
Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon: “kR to purify (...)”.
This seems to be the entry that most closely matches the
word suggested by Boff.
Hypothesis: a possible influence of this Indo-Iranian
language on the Greek language at some moment in
diachrony. Another research possibility would be to look
for the origin of the etymon inside the Indo-European
itself.

Crisis = Danger + Opportunity
“(...) When written in Chinese, the word
"crisis" is composed of two characters - one
represents danger and one represents
opportunity. The danger signs are all
around us. (...)”
KENNEDY, John F. Remarks at the Convocation of the United Negro College Fund, Indianapolis,
Indiana: 12/04/1959,

Misconceptions
To consider the Chinese word for crisis as a single
grapheme, when in fact it is made up of two syllables: weiji
is made up of wei and ji, two different characters (wēijī)
To define ji as ‘opportunity’. Weiji really means ‘crisis’ and
wei conveys the notion of ‘danger’, but ji definitely doesn’t
mean ‘opportunity’. This character bears the notion of
“incipient moment; crucial point (at which something
begins to chang)”. So, “a weiji is indeed a genuine crisis, a
dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A
weiji indicates a perilous situation when one should be
especially wary. It is not a juncture when one goes looking
for advantages and benefits”.

Jihuì = opportunity
ji, when inserted into multi syllabic words, may
acquire hundreds of secondary meanings, such as
“insightful (insight); ingenious” and “machine;
appliance”
‘opportunity’ in Mandarin is jihuì, in which huì
conveys the notion of ‘occasion’. Thus, ji can’t
mean opportunity singly. It is only when ji is
associated with huì, that it can create the meaning
of ‘opportunity’.
Ex: airplane doesn’t mean air+plane

Final Considerations
The etymological meaning of ‘crisis’ as a word derived
from the Greek carries the notion of change and this
notion seems to be underlying almost all the answers
collected by means of the inquiry of speakers.
The Greek etymon for ‘crisis’ is not the same for
‘crisol/acrisolar’ (crucible/to refine). The Greek word
from which ‘crisis’ derives is ‘Krisis’ and the word that
originated ‘crisol/acrisolar’ is ‘khrysos’, which means
'gold'. This finding weakens the rhetorical argument
according to which ‘crisis’ may have any connotation of
time for purification, for example.

The relationship between the Sanskrit ‘kri’
and the words ‘crisis’ and
‘crisol/acrisolar/crucible’, is not as clear as
Boff presents it. A research on the historical
development of Sanskrit could confirm (or
not) a potential influence of this Indo-Iranian
language on the Greek language at some
moment in history. Searching for the origin of
the etymon inside Indo-European itself could
also show a common etymon from which both
Greek and Sanskrit words have originated.

The statement that in Mandarin 'danger +
opportunity' is equal to ‘crisis’ (weiji) is not
fully true. The second character, ‘ji’,
depending on the context in which it is
inserted, may acquire multiple meanings, hence
the impossibility of inferring an original meaning
from the sum wei + ji.
Further research may define, for example, if
there is a family relationship between ‘Krisis’
(crisis) and ‘kri’ and between ‘khrysos’ (gold)
and ‘kri’.

References
ALMEIDA, Napoleão Mendes de. Dicionário de Questões Vernáculas. São
Paulo: Ática, 2001.
BOFF, Leonardo. Jornal Folha de São Paulo - Caderno Opinião
(Tendências /Debates). 07/07/1983. p.3.
BUENO, Francisco da Silveira. Grande Dicionário etimológico-prosódico da
Língua Portuguesa. São Paulo: Saraiva, 1963.
Dicionário de Grego-Português Português-Grego. Porto, Portugal: Porto
Editora, 1997.
MACHADO, José Pedro. Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa.
Lisboa: Horizonte, 1987.
MALHADAS, Daisi; DEZOTTI, Maria C. C. e NEVES, Maria H. de Moura.
Dicionário grego-português. Cotia, SP: Ateliê Editorial, 2008.
HOUAISS, Antônio e VILLAR, Mauro de Salles. Dicionário Houaiss da
Língua Portuguesa. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2009.

Online References
BOFF, Leonardo. Tragedy or drama? Retrieved from <
http://leonardoboff.com/site-eng/vista/2004/jan23.htm>. Free translation from the
Spanish provided by AnneFullerton@mybluelight.com. Done in Arlington, VA in
cooperation with Refugio del Rio Grande, Texas.
Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon. Disponível em <
http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html>. Acesso
em 5/10/2011.
CORREIA, Margarida. “O léxico na economia da língua” in Ciência da Informação,
vol. 24, número 3, 1995. Disponível em <
http://revista.ibict.br/index.php/ciinf/article/view/522>. Acesso em 31/10/2011.
KENNEDY, John F. Remarks at the Convocation of the United Negro College Fund,
Indianapolis, Indiana: 12/04/1959, disponível em <
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Speeches/Remarks-at-the-Convocation-of-the-
>. Acesso em 28/10/2011
MAIR, Victor. How a misunderstanding about Chinese characters has led many astray.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 09/2009, disponível em <http://
www.pinyin.info/chinese/crisis.html>. Acesso em 28/10/2011

Etimologia da palavra "Crise"

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